


The Takeover, The Mighty Fall

by Rubicksmaster



Series: Gangstuck [3]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, F/M, Gangstuck, Gay, M/M, No Smut, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-27
Updated: 2016-08-11
Packaged: 2018-07-18 12:04:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 23
Words: 32,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7314508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rubicksmaster/pseuds/Rubicksmaster
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dave is missing. Dirk is going to do something about it. All the while, the Protectors of Alternia are growing stronger.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! I'm back! This is a series so check out the first two parts first. And if you like Star Wars or Carry On by Rainbow Rowell, check out my two one shots. Just wanna read this? That's cool too!

‘My younger brother was kidnapped by my older brother’s best friend. I’m going to get him back, somehow. That’s all there really is to say on the matter.

-Dirk Strider’

Dirk glanced at the piece of paper before crumpling it up and tossing it into the wastebin. Jake was asleep on their shared bed. Dirk stared at his boyfriend, then out the open window. On Old Earth, New York City was acclaimed as the city that never slept. No city slept. All were bustling with some activity, whether it be the daily schedules of stores and businesses and schools in the day to the illegal drug, sex, and weapon markets that took over at night. As if to prove this very point, a car alarm split through the air, making Jake toss in his sleep.

The city was awake, and so was Dirk. He’d find Dave, dammit, even if it’s the last thing he does.


	2. Chapter 1: Day One

It was a normal day. Dave was trying to write lyrics, and spent most of the day talking to his friends. Dirk was pondering whether or not he should risk searching through Bro’s room again. It was up in the air whether or not their older brother was fucking Lil’ Cal or if they were close friends who preferred to share a room, but one thing was certain: Lil’ Cal occasionally left files at the Strider household.

Trelgi was becoming a prominent political figure now. Even if the populace thought he was a joke, he had the wide support of nearly every politician. Dirk was undecided on the matter. He could vote now, of course. Trelgi was the least problematic option, landing safely in the moderate liberal category, but he was shady.

Bro hadn’t been home for a few days. This was normal. He often disappeared for days at a time, sometimes weeks. They didn’t worry until it was over a month. Lil’ Cal would stop by and make sure nobody died at least once a day. He had already visited, grabbed a bag of doritos, stopped to watch whatever reality tv show Dave had left on, and left. By all means, he was in the clear.

But something had been gnawing at him. He didn’t see any cameras in his brother’s room (and he had checked all of the puppets). But still, something was wrong.

Dirk focused once more on the machine in front of him. It was a robot bunny, covered from head to toe in decent scrap metal, and sporting signature Strider shades. Some wires were sticking out of the back, which he had yet to seal. There were still some issues with mobility that would hinder its usefulness. His plan was simple. He would cover it in a generous amount of stuffing and felt and place it in his brother’s room. Then he would have control to search around and take pictures without putting himself at risk. 

It was fucking useless, of course, as most plans tended to be. Not because it didn’t work. His plan was coming together perfectly. 

Lil’ Cal stopped in for a second time that day. Surprising, but not terrifying. He barged into Bro’s room with a duffel bag in hand, stomping loud enough to get Dave away from his headphones. Dirk hid his robot and joined Dave in the hallway. The door was left open, but neither was brave enough to risk the wrath that would ensue if they joined Lil’ Cal. 

After five minutes, he was out with his duffel bag stuffed to the brim with puppets. “Get a bag, both of you,” he commanded. “Get some clothes. Only clothes.” They didn’t question him, despite them both being suspicious. Dirk only put his clothes in his bookbag, but glanced at his robot. He couldn’t leave it unfinished. It was functional enough to get to a destination, so he punched in Jake’s address into his laptop. The robot perked up and limped awkwardly to the window. Jade was as good with machines as he himself was. He could rely on her to finish the project.

After his robot did a somewhat elegant flip out of the window, Dirk went into Dave’s room. He was fully packed and together they met Lil’ Cal by the front door. “Here’s the deal,” he explained. “We’re going to a location your brother and I set up. Shit hit the fan.”

“What did you do?” Dave asked. 

“Don’t ask any fucking questions,” Lil’ Cal said. He grabbed both of their arms, and for being a lanky dude, he was strong enough to pull them all the way of the apartment building. There was a black unmarked car in front of the door. He opened the door and pushed both of them in.

“Any ideas?” Dave whispered.

“No clue,” Dirk replied. An alligator was at the wheel, wearing the black suit that was almost exclusive to gang members. Lil’ Cal sat next to him in the passenger’s seat. “Where’s Bro?” Dirk asked.

“What’d I say about the fucking questions,” Lil’ Cal snarled. Then, after a brief moment, he replied, “He’s already at our spot. You’ll see him soon.”

The alligator drove out of the city. As they were crossing the Darkleer bridge onto the mainland, Dirk began to wonder where exactly they were going. The closest airport was half an hour away, but he got the idea that Lil’ Cal wouldn’t want to take the risk of putting them in public. He began to categorize the features of the alligator. Typical red, scaly skin. Beady eyes. A long snout with pointy white teeth poking out. He was tall as far as reptilian species went. A scar trailed down the side of his face. Well-hid tattoos on his neck occasionally appeared when he would shift. Definitely a gang member. He wasn’t one of the Knights; none of them were really rich or willing to show off with suits. There wasn’t any traces of green, so he certainly wasn’t a former member of the Cherubs. No allusion to cards, so not one of Slick’s. Possibly the Sharps, a gang exclusive to alligators. 

Lil’ Cal had nearly as much control as multiple gang leaders as their leaders did. Some would say he could control the city if he wanted to. Dirk wasn’t sure whether or not that was already the case.

The alligator was starting to take back roads. Dirk tried to keep track of where they were headed, but somewhere past the sixth turn and fifth trailer, he lost track. After two hours, the alligator pulled into an empty clearing. “Get out everyone. And you,” Lil’ Cal pointed a knife to the alligator, “keep your fucking mouth shut.”

Dave and Dirk followed Cal. The alligator sped away, dust and loose grass kicking up behind the wheels. Dirk was wiping his shades on his shirt when Dave asked, “Where to now?”

“We wait,” Cal answered, breaking into a fit of high-pitched laughter. Dave winced. He was scared shitless whenever Cal did that, something that Dirk thought was due to how he was always the one to babysit Dave when Bro was working and Dirk was at school. Dirk remained stoic. 

Lil’ Cal sat down, content to wait on the floor. Dirk and Dave glanced at each other, sharing a moment of mutual understanding. Sitting down would make running away harder. Dave was looking at the sky, searching for whatever would whisk them away. Dirk pressed the edge of his glasses and turned away from them both. The front of his glasses glowed red as they turned on. Google Glasses had come out centuries ago. They were cheap as fuck, in more ways than one. Dirk accepted this as a challenge, and three years ago had perfected his own version of the technology, running on solar power. His program, Hal, was the only issue. Of course he had to make a program sassy. What a pain. 

A text bubble popped up in front of his eyes. It was Hal asking if communication was safe. The glasses were designed to respond to verbal interaction. Around a year ago, Dirk, Roxy, and Jade combined their efforts to make a telepathic scanner. It was probably faulty in a thousand different, increasingly dangerous ways, so Dirk scarcely used it. Hal responded to his denial and wrote another text bubble, this one asking what he could help with. Location. They were a little over 100 miles from Genesis City in the rural town of Garden Oakes. Location of his robot? A block away from the Harley-English mansion. Undamaged, aside from the limp. Battery life? One hundred percent, which would last for four days with limited use and no sunlight. That’s all.

Gusts of wind billowed around them with a deafening sound. Lil’ Cal got up, and Dave stepped back with them. A small light blue helicopter landed yards away from them, the blades still spinning. “On board!” Cal yelled. He ran and hopped through the open door and moved to sit beside the pilot. Dirk and Dave followed, and they buckled their seatbelts in the backseat. The door closed and the pilot took off. This time, their pilot was a human. Black. Bald. No emotions on his face. Tall. Broad. Wearing the uniform of a pilot. This man was definitely involved with a gang, though whether or not he was forced was unclear, as the usual tattoos that marked members were missing. 

Dave made as though he was going to ask Lil’ Cal something, but Dirk grabbed his arm. They were at the complete mercy of Lil’ Cal, hundreds of feet in the air. They settled for looking out of the window. The skyscrapers of Genesis City passed under them. The helicopter soared over the people below them, flying over the bridges connecting the separate islands of the city. Then they began to fly over the ocean.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Much longer chapter! This is all a flashback. Hope you enjoyed, and be sure to tune in for tomorrow's update. Thanks for reading, and I will see you all later. Until next time~


	3. Chapter 2: Love

He sat up with a start, at first thinking that the falling sensation he felt while asleep was very real. Moments from his personal time in hell were flashing in and out of his head, brief and scattered fireflies. The helicopter was landing, but at the wrong time, descending rapidly into flames. 

Jake, going on what might have been his tenth hour of sleep, tossed and snuggled closer to Dirk’s leg. Dirk smiled down at this and turned to the nightstand. The morning beams of sunlight scorched his sensitive eyes as he fumbled to reach for his sunglasses. Jake was holding him back, so Dirk had to stretch out and swat them closer with his fingertips before he could grab them and place them on his face. “On,” he whispered. The usual text bubble popped up, and Dirk whispered, “No.” It was not safe to communicate out loud, if only to give his lover a few more minutes of sleep. 

It was nine in the morning. He was missing his robotics course at the local tech college, though he doubted Bro kept him enrolled once they went into hiding. At least the class was more of a formality as opposed to any new information. Dave should be at his school, laughing with his friends. 

All of them were taking time off, with the exception of Rose. She didn’t explain her reasons to anyone, but Dirk automatically understood. It was a distraction. An easy distraction for someone as gifted as Rose. If spending eight hours in a building of peers, all probably as annoying as a yappy barkbeast, then so be it. 

Local news didn’t have much to offer. Mrs. Piexes was going strong in her fresh campaign. The overwhelming majority supported her. Dirk had reviewed their plans with Equius for hours, trying to understand what they had done wrong. His only conclusion was that they had all overestimated current political prowess of this country. 

When Dirk felt his pants get damped, he turned to find Jake, deep asleep and drooling on him. Dirk groaned and shook him awake. His black hair was perfect, both messy and clean enough to look effortless. His eyes seemed more green when he didn’t have his glasses on. His beautiful emerald eyes. “What?” Jake moaned. Dirk leaned over and kissed him. 

“You got my pants wet.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” he yawned, stretching out. Dirk slapped his leg. “Ow! What?”

“Pervert.”

Jake chuckled and sat up. He put his hand on Dirk’s cheek and pulled him in for a kiss that made Dirk’s heart skip a beat. “How are you, love?”

Dirk shrugged. “I’m hungry. Got any food?”

“Plenty. But none of that sugary crap you’ve lived off of since birth. Want me to make you actual food?”

“You’re exaggerating. Dave’s the one who’s probably going to die of a heart attack by the age of thirty. I know what fruit is beyond apple juice.” Dirk got up and looked under the bed for his shirt. “Stay in bed. I’ll bring something up for the both of us.”

“How romantic,” Jake cooed, falling back into the pillows. “You know exactly the way to my heart!” 

“What about the way to my shirt?” Jake searched through the blankets and held the orange tank top up triumphantly. Dirk grabbed it and kissed Jake before putting it on and going downstairs. The old mutt, Bec, raised his head at Dirk’s footsteps. He pat Bec’s head before entering the kitchen. It was completely empty, though he could see Jade’s grandpa through the window. He didn’t like Dirk. Then again, he didn’t like anyone except for his grandkids. He wasn’t entirely sure how Jade and Jake had convinced him to let Dirk stay, but it was a rare instance where one of their friends hadn’t been kicked out after two hours.

Their grandmother, on the other hand, was the complete opposite. Dirk had only ever spoken to her over video chat, when Jake still lived across the ocean. She was friendly and sweet, as a grandmother was expected to be. She also had a kickass collection of guns and a penchant for adventure, just like her ‘Jakey-poo,’ and affectionate term Dirk would never let him live down. Months ago she had fallen ill, and Jake was shipped off to live with the Harleys. She had been improving steadily, but it was in the opinion of the best doctors across Eurorus that she remained relaxed.

Dirk opened the fridge and pulled out the eggs and butter. As he searched through the cupboard for bread, he overheard the news broadcast currently on tv. “So far, Fefena Peixes has seen a dramatic increase in voter support. The entire state of Genesis has shown massive support for her, and other liberal states are following their lead. Jennifer, how long do you think until she snags the presidency?”

“I can’t say for sure, Grehto,” Jennifer replied as Dirk grabbed the bread. “She’ll definitely be in the lead by next month, and by then the voters will decide.”

That was the end of politics. Their conversation turned to increased gang violence against humans, amphibians, reptiles, and carapaces. Dirk began to fry four eggs after he put two pieces of bread in the toaster. He could guess that Trelgi’s assassination had left an ugly smear on all non-troll species. Of course they would be held responsible. He would have to talk to Karkat about making sure a troll always accompanied a human in the worse alleys in the city. 

Mr. Harley came back inside just as Dirk finished cooking. He was lathering his piece of bread with butter, and gave a silent nod in Mr. Harley’s direction. “He prefers jelly on his toast,” Mr. Harley said before going into the living room. Dirk did as he suggested, if awkwardly. That had been the third sentence Mr. Harley had said that was directed to Dirk (the other two were “You’re staying here how long?” and “Get your goddamn shitty swords out of my house,”). 

The news story had switched to happier events. The elementary school was fundraising for a new drama program with a bake sale. Someone had put out an advertisement for five healthy puppies. A local high school had been completely refurbished.

Jade was headed to the bathroom just as Dirk was about to enter Jake’s room. “Morning, sunshine.”

She yawned and waved in reply. Dirk couldn’t help but smile. You would think that someone who had dealt with severe narcolepsy would be used to waking up. He nudged the door open with his hip and walked in, placing the two plates on Jake’s nightstand. “Did you fall back asleep?”

“I wish, darling. I wish.” Jake rolled over onto his back. “What’d you make? Pancakes? Waffles? Oh, did you make cinnamon buns?”

“Does it smell like I made cinnamon buns?”

“No, but, well,” he faltered, sitting up and grabbing his plate.

“Who was telling me I needed to eat healthier, again? I forget. See, I have the faintest memory that it might’ve been you, but that wouldn’t make sense. You certainly aren’t a hypocrite or anything,” Dirk drawled, taking his own plate and sitting beside his boyfriend. 

Jake huffed. “Your food is too spicy.”

“No, you’re too much like your ancestors from Britain.”

“What does that even mean?”

“You should’ve taken History of Earth in school. Britain conquered most of the spice trade, and proceeded to make sure their food was bland as hell.”

“Did not!” Dirk gave him a look. “Well, maybe!”

“Just eat your food so we can do stuff.”

“What kind of stuff?”

“I don’t know. Useful stuff.”

Jake gently touched his arm. “Is it about Dave?”

Dirk jerked away and stood up once more, his plate now empty. “No. I just want to get out. Walk around. I’ve been cooped up for too long now. Besides, we need to stop by a hardware store or something. I need some parts before I can fix Hal.”

“You have no right to call me the movie dork if you name your AI program Hal.”

Dirk took Jake’s plate from him. “No, that movie was awesome.”

“So is Avatar! Especially the third remake!” Jake hopped up and took the dirty plates from Dirk’s hands. “I’ll take care of this stuff, love. Get ready to leave soon.”

“What, the old man is going to let you crash his car?” Dirk called after him. Jake was an atrocious driver. His grandfather loved his car more than anything, except for possibly his more extravagant guns and hunting trophies. Dirk wasn’t allowed to touch the car, which suited him fine. He searched under the bed and through Jake’s closet for his sneakers, which ended up being under the dresser. He looked through the closet once more, contemplating whether a sweatshirt would be wise in the cool September air. 

When the door swung opened, Dirk turned his head to see the Harley-English duo. “Found us a driver!” Jake exclaimed.

Jade held up the keys triumphantly. “Which one of you is paying for gas money?”

“You’re kidding,” Dirk replied flatly.

“Only about the gas money. You guys are lucky we’re running on a full tank,” Jade replied. 

Dirk turned to Jake. “I love Jade, but don’t you think it’s a little lame you have to rely on your seventeen year old cousin to drive us around?”

Jake merely shrugged. “The closest store is two miles away and I already made plans for us. Besides, I’m not ashamed to admit that my cousin is a better driver than me, as long as I’m a better shot.”

“That’s still up in the air,” Jade countered.

“No, it’s really not,” Jake replied.

“Okay, let’s just go to the damn store,” Dirk interrupted. “I need to fix the telepathic sensors.”

“Oh god that’s so cool,” Jade said as they walked downstairs together. “I wish I could make one for Bec!”

“We can pick up some materials for you if you’re being serious,” Dirk told her. “I don’t mind showing you how the master programs and builds his devices.” Jake rolled his eyes. He wasn’t one for robots, or really anything technological. His grandmother may have been the CEO in her younger years, but Jake had no interest in anything beyond simple coding. 

Jade kissed Mr. Harley goodbye, earning a rare smile. Jake waved, and Dirk gave a simple nod. Then they were on their way. Traffic was still clogged and still. The assassination had only instilled fear into the hearts of the citizens for a day or so. Then they blocked it out, as they did with any other horror that struck. Every murder. Drug ring. Sex slave bracket. Everything.

Dirk was beginning to understand Karkat’s disgust for the workings of the city. He could no longer remain indifferent to the sickening injustices handed out to them all.

Especially now that Dave was missing. 

Jake glanced back at Dirk from the front seat. He stared for a moment before turning back. Dirk was well trained in keeping his face emotionless, especially when he was lost in a turmoil of darkness. Bro was a good teacher in that. He was the only one who remembered their parents. When they died, he was the only one who had to put up with their abusive adoptive family. Nobody was interested in Dave, an infant, or Dirk, a toddler. But Bro was handsome, rebellious, and fifteen. He was made to be broken. Beaten. Raped. 

Dirk loved him more than he would know, or be able to express. He was full of faults, but he had protected them for five long years. When he was twenty-one, he filed a lawsuit and took custody if the young Striders. He was worried that the father was coming onto Dirk. That dark black bruises were making recurring appearances on his arms. 

Bro was gone. Dave was gone. Cal was a fucking ass. 

His dark thoughts didn’t even last him the entire drive. “What’s going on today?” Dirk asked.

“No clue,” Jade shrugged. “We should’ve been there by now. Might’ve been faster for you two to walk.” Dirk gave Jake a smug look which made him scowl.

“We can just get out now,” Jake said. “We’ll buy your parts for you.”

“Alright.” Jade digged through her pocket and pulled out a credit card. “I’ll be at the Lalonde’s.”

“Jade!”

“Shit! Sorry!”

“What happened?” Dirk asked, looking between the two. 

Jade groaned. “Well, it was supposed to be a surprise.”

“But somebody had to ruin it!” Jake turned to face Dirk. “Look, after you did your robot thing, we were going to visit Roxy and Rose. It was going to be a welcome back party.”

“No.”

“But Dirk, you got back three days ago!”

“I hate parties, dude, you know that. Especially parties for me. Goddammit.” Dirk sighed and rested his head on the seat. “I’m not going.”

“But Dirk,” Jade whined. “It took so much time to plan!” They moved another inch forward in the car. He didn’t respond.

Jake looked at him with big, emerald puppy eyes. Dirk avoided eye contact. The car in front of them suddenly became very interesting (and if the stickers on the back were to be trusted, then holy fuck why would anyone have that many kids?). Then Jake sighed and faced the road, sniffling slightly.

Fuck him, he wasn’t crying.

Honestly, how stupid did he think Dirk was? Jake was easily the most macho man he knew.

“Okay, fine, but I won’t enjoy a single second it.”

Both of them, the pair of dorks they were, threw triumphant fists into the air. “Thanks sweetheart! You won’t regret it, I swear!”

Dirk huffed. “You don’t know that.” Jade managed to pull over, and the two of them got out of the car. 

“Alright, so what cool robot parts do you need?” Jake asked, ignoring Dirk’s blatant pouting. Dirk stared at him for a few moments, and when he didn’t respond Dirk sighed and walked into the store, with Jake right on his heels.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, my laptop is broken, the r and y keys don't work, but I'm making do. I hope you enjoyed, and stay tuned for tomorrow's chapter. Until next time~


	4. Chapter 3: Day Two

The flight had lasted long enough for both Dirk and Davet to fall asleep. However, it was only a twenty minute nap, and Dirk refused to let himself fall into a deep sleep. They were tired.

They landed in another field. Dirk had guessed they were going to Eurorus, as they all spoke the common language Gerish. Bro had been proud of their Germain heritage and made sure they at least learned the textbook language in school. However, as he looked around their surroundings, Dirk saw soaring mountains surrounding them. The continent of Eurorus was mainly deserts and plains. Mountains were more common in Freeka, which was further south and made up of mainly humans due to a hateful attitude. Much like the Protectors of Alternia were trying to turn Skaia into an anti-human force, humans had set up the same community towards trolls here. 

“Where are we?” Dirk asked Lil’ Cal once the helicopter had taken off. 

“Fucking questions,” he snarled. “Follow me.”

Dave groaned and grumbled about how tired he was. Dirk checked with Hal again. His suspicions were correct. They were in the center of Freeka. What the fuck was going on?

They walked for an hour, and despite their athletic builds, both of the Striders were feeling the combined results of exhaustion, hunger, dehydration, and general anxiety. Neither of them were keen to talk to Cal again. He simply led them, seeming to walk faster with every passing second. Sometimes he’d burst out laughing. Cal was an enigma. He always acted like he was high, but was too efficient to truly be strung out nonstop. Sopor addled nerves and reactions; Gamzee was the perfect example. Of course, trolls were the only species able to legally obtain sopor due to the devastating effects that came with abuse. 

Then again, Cal wasn’t really concerned about the law. 

When they reached the only road for miles, a limo was waiting for them. Much more high profile, Dirk noted. Cal was concerned about something that was central to Skaia. If their appearance in Freeka was more deliberate than something as simple as Cal owning property there, then he could assume there was an issue with trolls. A carapace was their driver. In most places in the world, carapaces were slaves. The largest nation in Freeka, Alustus, was the most developed country that had not yet abolished slavery. 

The interior of the limo was white leather. The air conditioning was a pleasant relief from the hot sun that had beat upon them. Dirk looked to Dave, who had a radiant red shade on his skin. Dirk probably looked the same. Cal had moved up front with the driver.

“Where the fuck are we?”

“Freeka.”

“Seriously? What the hell?”

“No clue, yet. But I can take a guess. We’re in Alustus, from what I can tell.”

“What’s your guess?”

“Alustus is one of the most dangerous places for any non-human. What if Cal knows about the Protectors of Alternia’s plan?”

“So, he knows they’re trying to kill off all humans and shit?”

“Possibly,” Dirk replied. “He may be trying to protect us.”

“Then why isn’t Bro here?”

Dirk was at a loss. He hadn’t considered that there might be something wrong with Bro. His absence was so normal that it hadn’t so much as crossed his mind. Cal was domineering and terrifyingly unpredictable, but he had been friends with Bro for years. Possibly more than friends. Bro was too powerful to let Cal hurt him. That was simply the way the world worked. Right? “I don’t know. For now we need to trust that Cal was being honest about Bro. Maybe he is already wherever were headed.”

Dave stared at him skeptically, but eventually shrugged when he realized that that was all Dirk had. He began to go through his bag. After five minutes of fruitless searching, Dirk asked, “What are you looking for?”

“Headphones.”

“Dave, we weren’t supposed to bring electronics.”

“Yeah, well, you’re still wearing your glasses, so you can’t blame me.” Dirk didn’t have a retort, so he settled for watching Dave pilfer through all of his clothes. Finally, he found them in one of his pockets. “Mind putting your glasses on bluetooth and hooking these up?”

“I want to save battery power in case of emergencies.”

“We’re in one of the sunniest places in the world. You’ll be fine.”

Dirk shrugged, but didn’t turn his glasses on. Dave didn’t bother asking again, but did put his headphones in. He rested his head on the headrest and slid his sunglass off of his face. His eyes were closed, and Dirk noticed the forced slowness of his breath. He wasn’t going to try and force Dave to stay awake. If he wanted to ‘sleep,’ then so be it. 

Their ride in the limo was, by far, the shortest trip that day. It took an easy half an hour, and they had arrived in a small, rural area. Dirk examined what he could through the shaded window. Most of the houses were small, but not dirty. Fields were being farmed by workers. Some young children ran through the streets, kicking a ball. A few carapaces of varying colors and genders stood by houses, stiff and wearing starched, prim clothes. Older humans walked by in expensive clothes. The poorest humans wore jeans and tanktops. There was the occasional troll, or salamander, or other reptile. They would be sitting or lying on the sidewalk, wearing filthy, worn clothes. 

As they kept driving, the houses got bigger, more extravagant. Nobody was poor. Everyone was human. There were many more carapaces, wearing nicer clothes. 

The limo pulled up in front of the largest, fanciest houses Dirk had ever seen. No, it wasn’t a house, it was a mansion. They had to drive through gates that opened only when Cal put in a password. The grass was unnaturally green, considering the unbearable heat. Various hedges decorated the extensive lawn. They formed shapes of grotesque figures. Without asking, without thinking for a second longer, Dirk realized that this was definitely a mansion owned by Cal. This wasn’t cashing in a favor.

The limo parked in front of a fountain, which gushed clear, glistening water into the air, which fell elegantly back into the fountain. The excess of it all disgusted Dirk, and if Dave’s face upon being shaken awake was any indication, he felt the same. The mansion was primarily white, through the columns in front gleamed gold. The front entrance was ten feet tall and almost as wide, with two dark brown doors blocking the way. In front of them stood a tall, white carapace dressed in a black and white maid’s uniform. 

Their driver opened the door, and the Striders piled out. Cal was already talking to the maid in front, who was nodding as she answered his questions. They knew nothing of Cal outside of the role he played in their lives. Dirk doubted he had any family, though. It was possible this maid ran his mansion when he was away.

Then Bro walked out of the house. He was not wearing his tight black pants and white shirt, as he seemed to every day. He was dressed like a rich prick, in khaki shorts and a pink shirt. At least he still wore his hat and glasses.

Cal approached him, and Dirk noticed he seemed awkward. As though he was nervous in front of Bro. For no reason, too, as Bros first reaction was to pull him into a hug. Dirk couldn’t judge, and neither could ‘who even knows what my sexuality is’ Dave. 

Then Bro pulled apart, if hesitantly, and began to walk toward Dirk and Dave. Dave was shifting from foot to foot ever so slightly, a sure sign his anxiety was dreadful. Dirk remained stalwart. 

“Hey guys,” Bro said. 

“‘Sup,” Dave said. Dirk nodded his head, slightly.

“Hope the trip wasn’t too bad.” Dirk shrugged. 

“Could’ve been worse. Could’ve been better. Should’ve had more fucking water available to us though. Do you know how long we went without water? Fucking child abuse, Bro. We are thirsty brats.” Dave was rambling. He did that, despite growing up with two emotionally stunted idiots who had trouble talking. 

Bro shrugged. “Bring it up with Lil’ Cal. He was in charge of refreshments.” He turned to face Dirk. “You alright.”

“Yeah.”

“Cool.”

Dave’s nerves saved the day, preventing what could easily turn into ten years of awkward silence. “What’s going on, man? I got school and shit. Prepping for college. Gotta make sure my grades are good so I can go to film school and whoo all the ladies, you know?”

“And all the metrosexuals,” Dirk muttered. 

“You aren’t entirely wrong,” Dave shrugged.

“Let’s go inside, you two. We’ll explain everything later, but we have your guys’s rooms set up. Separate rooms for once!” Bro said.

Dave couldn’t hide the smile on his face. Dirk only felt an odd sense of regret. Every child dreamed of getting their own room, and he was no different. But things were unfamiliar. Even in a new house, a new room, the familiarity of his younger brother would be comforting. 

But he wouldn’t say anything.

The maid led them through the house as Bro and Cal went to their own business. The interior was more impressive and more pretentious than the exterior. Cal’s taste in design was still as grotesque and terrifying as the hedge sculptures, but with more detail. He shared Bro’s adoration for puppets, which were held on small columns throughout the halls. There were no lamps, but chandeliers. 

“What’s your name?” Dave ased.

“Abby,” she replied. 

“Not a traditional carapace name,” Dirk said.

“You two are Skaian, yes?” They nodded. “Masters are allowed to rename their slaves once they are bought. The ultimate way to claim your property.”

“What was your real name?” Dave asked.

“I’m not allowed to say.”

“Oh. Well, I’m Dave and this is my brother, Dirk.”

“I know,” Abby replied. “My master did inform me that we’d be getting new guests. I was the one to prepare your rooms, of course.” She stopped in front of a plain white door. “This is where you’ll be staying, young master Dave.”

“Thanks. None of that young master shit though, please. I’m just Dave.”

“As you wish, Dave.”

Dave entered his room which, from what Dirk could see, was bare except for a bed and an empty desk. When the door closed, Abby turned to Dirk and smiled. “To your room next, young master.”

“Just Dirk, please.”

“As you wish, Dirk.” 

Dirk was expecting to be staying in the room next to Dave. Instead, Abby led him far away into the opposite wing. His mind ran with possibilities as to why Cal would do that. Did he suspect Dave and Dirk were up to something? Well, it wasn’t too much of an issue. Dirk could sneak through the mansion with little difficulty, and Dave was just as capable.

“Did you know my brother beforehand?”

“Master Darry?”

Dirk cringed, as he did when anyone spoke his brothers real name aloud. Their parents, from what Bro told them, had been huge nerds. Literature nerds, to be more specific. They had an extensive collection of ancient Earthen and Alternian books. Darry was a name straight out of The Outsiders. It was stupid, as it wasn’t short for anything, but Dirk was just grateful they didn’t continue the names with Sodapop for Dirk and Ponyboy for Dave. “Do you have to refer to him as ‘Master?’” 

“He hasn’t requested otherwise, and Master Cal insists.”

That was interesting. “Well, how long have you known him?”

“Many years. Master Cal has owned this mansion for years before he bought me. Master Darry was with him since before I would know.”

“When were you bought?”

“Ten years ago.”

“How often does he come here?”

“It varies. At the very least, once a year. This year he’s been appearing more frequently.”

“What do they do?”

“I am not allowed to say.”

“Is that by Cal’s commands?”

“You ask more questions when your brother isn’t around.” Abby turned to face Dirk. They were in front of another door. “Why do you do that?” Dirk didn’t reply, and she said, “I expected as much. This is your room, though I expect to see you out of it quite often. Be careful.” She curtsied and walked away. She didn’t turn back to make sure Dirk did indeed go into his room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heey! Still stuck with a broken laptop, but I'm making do. I managed to get another chapter in regardless. I hope you all enjoyed, and thank you for reading. I'll be here tomorrow with the next update. Until next time~


	5. Chapter 4: There’s A Perk To Having A Hacker Friend

Jake didn’t mind paying for all the materials Dirk needed, and insisted that he didn’t need to be paid back. Dirk wasn’t fond of this, and silently decided to leave some money in Jake’s room once he got some, but he was grateful nonetheless. Dirk tried to get Jake to stop at a Chinese food place, but Jake wouldn’t allow it. “There will be plenty of food at the party.”

“We’re teenagers, babe. We should be able to eat shit tons of food without worrying about getting full.”

“Darling, I promise that it’ll be worth it. Do you mind walking?”

“Not at all.” Jake held his hand out towards Dirk as they walked. Dirk ignored it. Pet names were fine, so long as they weren’t shouted, but holding hands was a bit too affectionate for his tastes. The teenaged boys that roamed the streets when they were skipping class were as unforgiving as any hateful preacher, and Dirk didn’t feel like watching Jake wrestle another douchebag on the streets to protect Dirk’s honor. 

The Lalonde house was about a mile from the city, but close enough to the market complex that they could walk. Mrs. Lalonde had different jobs depending on who you asked. Roxy admired her, and would passionately explain her mother’s contributions to the growing field of ectobiology. Rose would deadpan, “She’s an alcoholic,” and leave it at that. Dirk had no clue what Rose had against her mother. She was kind whenever friends were over, which was more than Bro could say (John would never watch the Muppets in the same way). Of course, being Roxy’s oldest friend probably gave him some bias, and he never did speak to Rose much.

The Lalonde household was beautiful. It was an average sized home, designed with the modern appeal most first generation human houses had when they were first built on the planet. Any homeowner would attest to the fact that troll gothic was the ideal and desired style currently, Dirk found an appeal in the rounded walls, domed ceilings, and the river that ran uninterrupted through the basement of the house, providing what was probably the only clean energy in the city.

Then again, anything was preferable to the apartment buildings that seemed prominent on every planet across the galaxy. 

“Is Jane coming over?”

“Of course! She wouldn’t miss this for the world!” Jake replied with a huge smile. Jane always spent her summers in Genesis City, but began studying abroad in different Eurorean countries. Like the Harley-English family, the Crocker family was fucking loaded. Their name carried directly from Earth, they had been able to survive comfortable off the wealth of their ancestors. Jane suffered from the affliction most young adults had: she had no clue what she wanted with her life. She was throwing herself into her studies in an attempt to find something, so any visits outside of breaks were few and far between. 

Jake had his hand on the front doorknob when he saw that Dirk had stopped following him, and was a few feet behind him. “Love?”

“I’m not down for having a bunch of people jump out at me.”

“You can’t just ditch because of- Dirk?” Jake asked, turning back to see Dirk searching the walls of the house. “What are you doing?” Dirk ran his hands over the wall and gripped with his fingers. The smooth walls made it hard to climb, but not impossible. Moving quickly, he stuck the tips of his fingers in the grooves and pulled himself up. When he got to a window, he pulled himself up and glanced down. At least it was a small affair; only Jade, Jane, John, and the Lalondes. Not Dave. It was expected, but the pain struck him like a dull knife.

He knocked a few times and, once he caught the attention of Jane, waved. She waved back with a bright grin. Roxy noticed and said, “Fucking get off our house Dirk!”

“What are you doing?” Jake asked. 

“Just making sure everyone knows I’m here.” Dirk slid down the wall and landed next to Dirk, smirking slightly.

“You just wanted the excuse of showing off your sweet ninja skills, didn’t you.”

“What? No.” Dirk pecked Jake’s lips before he opened the door. He put on a small, forced smile as everyone greeted him. Roxy ran to him and pulled him into her arms. John joined the hug, and Jane stood to the side and talked to Jake. Jade waved from the couch, where she was sitting beside Rose.

“Welcome back Dirk!” Roxy exclaimed.

“I’ve been back for a while.”

“Now it’s official,” John said. “Come on, my dad insisted he make like, thirty cakes to celebrate. And if you guys don’t eat them, that’s all I’m eating for weeks.” John turned an unflattering shade of green, similar to that of a leaf that did not change with the seasons and turned a muted, sad shade of green. 

“He’s just exaggerating,” Jade said. “There’s only fifteen cakes.”

“Fifteen fucking cakes! Fifteen!” John moved towards Jade with outstretched arms and, when Jade dodged his needy hug, fell to the floor. “Too much!”

Dirk stepped over John and sat on the couch. Roxy and Jane were talking excitedly, catching up on current events from the heart of Genesis City that Jane missed out on. They’d be adorable together. Jake, John, and Jade were all happy to chat together. Rose was interested in her book.

If it wasn’t for the disturbing lack of Chinese food, it would be a perfect party. 

“How’s school been?” Dirk asked, dragging Rose’s mind from the crevices of words it was trapped in. 

“Normal as always.”

“Learn anything?”

“Did you ever learn anything in public high school?”

Dirk shrugged. “A certain handsome boy made me reassess my sexuality enough for me to realize I’m gay.” Jake, who had caught parts of what Dirk said, grinned at both of them. Dirk smiled and waved back before muttering, “Yeah, it wasn’t him.”

“Well, I’ve learned that Dave was the only interesting aspect of my school.”

Dirk didn’t know how to reply. “I’m sorry.”

“No, I can’t imagine how you’re feeling.”

“He’s your best friend.”

“He’s your brother.”

Dirk strung his hands together and squeezed his fingers. “We’ll get him back.”

“Why weren’t you able to bring him back, Dirk?” Rose asked, putting her book down. Did it just get very quiet? Was everyone listening? The million boondollar question, that’s what this fucking was. Why didn’t Dirk bring Dave with him? 

Suddenly his throat felt dry. “It was rough, Rose.”

“I’m sure it was. And nothing to go off of? No information for an investigation?”

“Barely any. And the police force is probably in the pockets of PA, so what the fuck do you suggest I do?” He was glaring at her behind his sunglasses. 

“I’m not trying to start an argument. We need to do something to save Dave.”

“Sure.” Dirk got up, positive that Rose had once again burrowed in her book. He went to the kitchen, where Roxy was searching the cabinets. “What are you looking for?”

“Just something I got you.” She faced him as he was about to protest and said, “It’s not a gift, really. I was just out shopping and bought it for you because I kept forgetting you were gone.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. Oh.” Roxy hugged him, and Dirk managed to ignore what sounded like a sniffle and wrap his arms around her. “I’m still getting used to this,” she said, muffled though Dirk’s shirt.

“Me too.” 

Roxy pulled back enough to look at Dirk’s eyes through his shades and said, “We’re going to find Dave. You know we are.”

“How?”

She smirked and, paired with the watery red eyes, looked oddly, if not terrifyingly, confident. “Sollux and I have been doing some work. After the party I’ll show you some stuff.”

“You have a lead?” Dirk asked incredulously. 

“Maybe. But just don’t worry about it. Have fun.”

“Roxy, please, show it to me now.” He ripped his glasses away from his face, orange eyes meeting pink. “It’s Dave. Fucking Dave, I left him alone and I’m not going to stall and leave him alone longer. I know you want me to relax and be a normal teenager for once but…” Dirk faltered. “But… That’s not an option anymore.”

Roxy looked away, then scanned the rest of their friends, who had migrated to the xbox. “Okay,” she whispered, almost too quiet for Dirk to hear. Then, almost to reassure herself, she repeated louder, “Okay. Follow me.”

This was unnecessary. Dirk had been coming to the Lalonde household for longer than he could remember, and he knew every inch of the house. But he trailed behind Roxy, letting her lead him to her room. He slid his glasses back onto his face. 

Roxy’s room hadn’t changed much over the years. Her window was always open, so a few cats could always be found surrounding the toys and bowls of food and water she left out for them. Scarves that Rose had made her hung from hangers and chairs. Posters of comics and other interests she had were plastered on the wall. She had a wallet on her dresser, solely for the purpose of donating spare change to the homeless. There were no less than eight computers, one of which was a generous gift from the Harley corporation. Her bed was never made, and empty bottles littered the floor. None of them, Dirk was pleased to see, were indicative of a drink containing alcohol. 

Roxy lifted one of her laptops from the floor and onto her desk. She sat in front of it and Dirk pulled up a chair behind her. She opened up a file and leaned back, giving Dirk and unobstructed view of the screen. “Sollux and I pulled together with a few hacker friends. We got into Cal’s old accounts. All were closed around the time you disappeared, but there’s plenty of information.”

“Like what.”

“Well, we have his exact address in Alustus. We have bank transactions between most kingpins in the city, and a few lower level thugs you can probably beat some information from. We have the contact information of his slaves. We have evidence that he’s involved with the top government officials in Freeka.”

Dirk put his hand to his chin. “I have a contact already. Of course he was involved with gangs here, but I’ll stop by some of the thugs’ homes and see what they know. The address is useful, but I have no way of getting there.”

“It’s a start, Dirk,” Roxy replied, putting her hand on his shoulder. “We’ll start searching tomorrow. We’ll get everyone involved. Even the trolls. And Calliope.”

“How is she?”

“Happy. But her brother is with her still, and she wants to move out. She might like hearing from you.” Roxy closed her laptop and stood up. “Let’s go hang out with everyone else. And don’t try to fight with my sister again, please.”

“Yeah, sorry about that.”

They rejoined the rest of their friends, who accepted their absence and immediately clued them into what they were doing. “So, I found Ultimate Twister,” Jade said.

“The version with one hundred dots, ten colors, and the addition of heads as playable limbs?” Dirk asked.

“The one and only!” Jane replied.

“I’m in.”

As John and Rose set up the game, Jake moved closer to Dirk. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah,” Dirk muttered, facing his boyfriend. Jake looked skeptical, and Dirk added, “I’ll tell you everything when we get home. Don’t worry. Just enjoy the party.” He kissed his forehead and resumed watching John struggle to find a large enough space that would allow for the colossal surface area of the game. 

“Alright, love.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who got their account back! Yeah, this girl is! To celebrate, I'll put up two chapters! Expect the next one in an hour! Hope you enjoyed this! Comment if you liked it or if you have advice. Until next time~


	6. Chapter 5: Week 1

Dirk, dressed in all black and wearing his extra pair of shades that weren’t programmed with Hal, was doing nightly searches of the house. All of the servants lived on the first floor, close to the kitchen. Every nook and cranny was decorated with puppet memorabilia. Some of it was akin to an innocent collector’s items, while others were as pornographic as anything Bro owned. Dirk managed to get into the locked rooms by climbing in through the windows, and he found that there were frequent guests. Some he recognized as kingpins, one being the late Lord English. Others were government officials. 

Dave spent his days in his room. He hated the puppets. Hated them. After his first sleepless night, he gathered the puppet decorations in his room, took them outside, and lit them on fire. Nobody said anything.

Abby was the only slave who spoke to them. In fact, she was the only slave that spoke. Dirk didn’t want to pry into her surely depressing past, but assumed that her previous life was one of authority. She was respected by the other slaves. To some degree, she was respected by Cal. Pleases and thank yous were exchanged between the two.

Bro was relaxed as ever. There was no indication that they were in any danger. He and Cal would go out to different places in Alustus, landmarks, gay bars, tourist attractions, high class restaurants. They were living a life of luxury, and Bro lapped up every inch of it. 

Government families visited often. Daughters of wealthy businessmen and politicians flirted with Dirk and, when he dropped a snide comment about Jake, would move onto Dave. He held no interest in them, but acted as though he was in his element. He flirted back easily, played the part of a handsome Skaian boy. He was a heartbreaker, and Dirk admired it to some extent. “Hey, I could be being the douche who asks for nudes and fucks them without a second thought,” Dave defended.

“You’re giving them false hope,” Dirk would retort.

“I never say I’m interested. I tell them they’re beautiful. That they deserve better. That they might as well replace the sun with how hot they are. I tell them what they ask me to say.” Dave shrugged. “It works, and I get nothing in return.”

“Like some douchey superhero?”

“Like a fedora bro who knows that I don’t deserve anyone.”

Dirk never knew how to reply after that. 

Dirk tried getting into every computer he came across. The one in Bro’s room was easy to get into, but useless. Whatever they were involved in was solely because of Cal, and they were lumped in by association. 

Cal’s computer was impossible to hack into. Well, at least for Dirk. His desk was locked, and Dirk didn’t have any materials to pick them. Abby, though talkative on any other occasion, would remain silent whenever Dirk asked her.

He was at a loss. He started walking through the fields, scaling the smooth walls of the mansion for a challenge, turning Hal on and off again out of boredom. What was happening in Genesis City? Was Karkat still safe after the death of Lord English? What was PA up to? Were the Peixes sisters safe?

Dirk would often walk into Dave’s room to check on him and find him vacantly staring through the window. “You okay?” He’d shrug. “Do you want to talk about it?” Shrug. “We’re going home soon.”

“When?”

“Soon,” he’d confirm again. 

He had no fucking clue.

An empty feeling was growing in him. It was small at first, the size of what felt like a small seed growing in his chest. With each day it grew bigger, colder. A seed became an apple, that then leaked out through his entire torso, cold branches trailing across his, his arms, his legs, up his neck and into his head. He couldn’t think clearly. He couldn’t do anything cleary. He was living through a haze. 

He didn’t tell Dave about this, but he was willing to bet Dave knew what it felt like. 

The days were hot. The sun was boldly shining nearly all day, raising temperatures to the extreme. Alustus was currently undergoing a drought. At the mansion, nobody was affected. Even the slaves seemed well off and content. The news programs showed a different story entirely. Bodies were piling up on the streets each day. The poor and lower middle class were hit the hardest, especially as businesses got water before anyone else. Tension was building. Those strong enough to protest stood in front of government buildings with filthy boards, cursing their negligence of the common people.

Tension was building, and in the dry conditions any spark could ignite a mighty flame. 

“We should invest in sending water to the poor,” Bro whispered to Cal one night at dinner. Dirk was lucky enough to hear it.

“They won’t be able to afford it.”

“Donate, Cal. Donate.”

“Why should I do that?”

Their voices dropped lower, and Dirk could no longer understand their hushed murmurs. 

Every night he watched the news. Every night he broke out and walked through the streets. This was a higher class neighborhood, but the homeless living in alleys were now dead. Nobody looked twice at the alleys. Dirk walked through them, staring at the lifeless bodies as an odd, unnameable emotion washed over him. 

The Striders were never a religious family, but Dirk said some made up prayers in their honor nonetheless.

World news would offer a glimpse of life in Skaia. Genesis City was never mentioned in great detail, being one of many large cities, but the condition there was worsening. The two candidates were morons in their own rights, and both were trolls. 

There were multiple shooting sprees sprouting up in different areas of the country. Sources cited the one that occurred in Karkat’s temporary hideout as the worst by far. Experts claimed that most were examples of xenophobia. Humans and trolls were as violent as ever. Tension was at an all time high amongst the two groups.

Life was at a standstill.

So he kept searching. Kingpin after kingpin would arrive, however briefly, and speak with Bro and Cal with a mixture of fear and forced respect. Money would be exchanged and Cal would always say the same thing. “I can’t do any jobs outside of Alustus privately. I’m hiring my own workers to take care of business during my absence. Experience is not an issue. It will be done.” Nobody complained. They weren’t brave enough to.

Seven days felt short, but it was an eternity. Dirk kept pestering Abby. “I need to know why I’m here.”

“I only have a vague idea.”

“Then tell me!”

Abby cocked her head. “You are safe here. You should be happy to stay.”

Exasperated, Dirk threw his hands up in the air and said, “How was I in danger?” This wasn’t good. It was difficult to get a rise out of him, and Abby wasn’t purposely being irritating. 

“I’m not at liberty to say.”

“Abby!” Dirk caught the frightened expression on her face and sighed. In a softer tone, he repeated, “Abby… Dave and I were doing some things in Genesis. Some things that Cal wouldn’t appreciate. I don’t know what was going on in Genesis that got to Bro and Cal, but I’m not sure that my brother and I are safe here.”

Puzzled, Abby asked, “What were you doing?”

Dirk smirked and, feeling slightly more calm, said, “I’m not at liberty to say.” Then he bowed his head, turned, and walked away. He hadn’t known Abby for long, but they had talked frequently. She was brave. Compassionate. Empathetic. But, beyond any other trait, she was curious. She had a strong need to know what was happening at all times. Dirk was counting on a midnight visit from the white carapace, and he would be wide awake.

Convincing Dave to hang out with him was an easy task. Dirk, who hadn’t removed the decorations in his room that Dave so feared, agreed to stay in Dave’s for the first few hours of the night. Dave, despite his issues with new scenarios, had quickly made his room similar to his old one. Of course, that was a nicer way of saying it was filthy and cluttered, but it was familiar. 

When they were first getting adjusted in their rooms, Bro had taken them out to different high-end outlets to buy objects they had to leave behind. Dave was smart enough to splurge on a television set and a playstation 32x. As they were making their way through round 20 of Culling Clash: Zombie Edition when someone knocked on their door. “Dude, I am not in the mood to deal with Bro right now,” Dave muttered.

“I’ll deal with him.” Dirk opened the door, not at all surprised when Abby stood in front of him.

“Care to go on a walk with me?” 

“Of course,” Dirk replied. “Dave, we’re going for a walk.”

“Have fun.”

“No, you’re coming with us.” Dave groaned and turned his tv off. “Cameras?” Dirk whispered to Abby. She nodded. 

In all of his wandering, Dirk had only ever taken the path through the front of the house. Abby led them to the back, the gardens were sculptured into a maze. “Don’t worry about getting lost, all of the slaves have a method of getting through.” 

“What are we doing, Dirk?” Dave asked, looking at the hedges vaguely resembling animals.

“Finding stuff out.”

“You are the one who will be revealing information, Dirk, not me,” Abby replied curtly.

“Right. Well, Dave’s friend was looking for whoever arranged his father’s death. Cal was involved, and Dave and I would steal his shit and send info to our friends to keep them safe.”

“Dirk, the fuck!” Dave looked between him and Abby. “You can’t trust her! She’s his fucking slave! No matter how much she likes you, or how nice she is, she is legally bound to obey Cal no matter what. He can kill her!”

Dirk stared at him. “Trust me.”

Dave huffed, and Dirk could feel the death glare hidden by his shades. Addressing Abby, he said, “We don’t think Cal knows about what we were doing. But we need to be positive.”

After a few tense seconds, Abby said, “Master Cal has not informed any of the slaves of this. You are here for a different reason. The same reason Master Darry is here.”

“Which is?” Dirk pushed.

Abby sighed. “It truly isn’t my place to say.”

“Abby, we aren’t going to turn you in,” Dirk assured. “We are in as much shit as you are.”

She looked between the brothers, then, in a resigned tone, replied, “I’m sure you know who the Protectors of Alternia are. Master Cal was involved with them, this is no secret. But he is only human, and despite all he can do for them, the two parties were never on good terms. There are rumors flying around that the Protectors of Alternia are planning to take over soon. They will be relentless to all humans when you do. Master Cal is not the type to take chances. And he loves Master Darry.”

“Called it,” Dave whispered. Dirk elbowed him, and Abby coughed to draw their attention back to her.

“Master Darry was never involved with gangs, but he knew what Master Cal was doing. Master Darry flew out here first after an attempt on his life. Master Cal came to get you two as soon as he could.”

“Someone tried to kill Bro?” Dave asked quietly. Abby nodded. Dave’s mouth hung open, and Dirk shared his feelings of astonishment. Bro seemed untouchable. Too powerful. Too smart. Too strong and wary to be killed by the PA.

“Shit,” Dirk murmured. “This was to protect us.”

“I did say it was for your own safety,” Abby grinned. Finished with her story, she let the brothers sit in silence. 

“So… What now?” Dave asked. When Dirk looked at him, he continued, “We can’t stay here. Yeah, we’re safe, but for how long? What if Cal finds out? What if something happens to our friends and we aren’t there to help them?”

“You’re right,” Dirk muttered. “I’ll come up with something. Are you going to help us?” he asked Abby.

“I’ll see what I can do."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, I know I try to update everyday. That won't happen. However, what will happen is I will update with a few chapters every once in a while (as I did today), and each day that passes will add another chapter. I hope that's okay with everyone. So be sure to stay tuned! I wouldn't want anyone to miss out. I hope you enjoyed, and thank you so much for reading. Comment any suggestions or advice, I live to improve. Until next time~


	7. Chapter 6: A Nightly Visit

“So… Where exactly are we going?” Jake asked, taking his eyes of the side of the road to glance at Dirk. 

“I told you, an ex member of The Felt.”

“At two in the morning?”

Dirk nodded. Grandpa Harley would never allow them to drive his car at this time, so Dirk had swiped his keys when they got back home and bided their time. Technically, his time. Jake had refused to participate in what he defined as criminal activity (he probably wasn’t too far off the mark). Then, last minute, Jake hopped in the passenger seat with a sour look on his face.

“I hate you.”

“Right.”

“You’re going to get me beat.”

“I’m going to get myself killed, so show some pity.”  
“What are we doing?” Reluctantly, Dirk built upon what he had explained before. Roxy sent a list of all of the identities Cal had saved on his laptop. Without his swords, Dirk was left with his bare hands and a very grumpy, gunless boyfriend. Arthur Pritch was a human who had been a low level thug for The Felt for two years. He had been one of Lord English’s first picks to hire out to Cal whenever he came knocking.

“I have his address. We need to ask him some questions.”

“Oh shit Dirk I’m not helping you kill someone!”

“Relax. I’m not killing anyone, and neither are you.”

Pritch lived in an upscale apartment building. The front doors were locked, and an intercom was on the wall. “We can’t get in, and you won’t be able to pick the front door,” Jake said, nodding to a security guard inside.

“I have my ways.” Dirk grabbed Jake’s hand and led him into the alley beside the building. “Pritch lives on the third floor. Think you can climb, Indiana Bones?”

Any doubts Jake had dissolved with the mention of his beloved cherub adventurer. “I can climb anything you can, darling.”

Dirk grinned before hopping onto the dumpster. He was tall enough to reach the windowsill on the second door. Pulling himself up, he whispered, “You might not be able to reach up here.”

“Fuck you,” Jake retorted, slightly miffed by the inch height difference.

With Jake following his lead, Dirk tried to pry open the window. When that didn’t work, he leapt for the windowsill above him. It didn’t open either. “What are the odds you brought a knife with you?”

“Slim to none,” Jake replied. Holding on with one hand, he searched his pockets, then shrugged. “Hop over to the next one.” 

Dirk swung his feet to the left, then pushed himself of the wall in a sort of run. Grasping with his fingers, he managed to pry open the window. He slipped in and watched as Jake copied what he had done. When Jake swung over to him, Dirk reached out and grabbed his arm. Jake had only managed to grab the windowsill with one arm. 

Dirk pulled him inside. “Thanks,” he muttered as Dirk turned his phone on and scoured the room. It was an orderly kitchen. He closed the window and grabbed Jake’s hand once more, leading them to the front door. “Who lives here?” Jake whispered. 

“No clue,” Dirk admitted. “We need to check the room number.”

Faintly, something clicked in the apartment. Dirk and Jake inhaled and looked at each other before frantically looking for the source of the sound. Someone grumbled in another room, and Jake nudged Dirk out of the way so they could leave the room. Gently, he closed the door and pulled Dirk further into the hall. Coming out of room fourteen, Dirk counted down until he stopped Jake in front of room eight. 

“This one?”

“Yeah.” Dirk took a bobby pin from his back pocket and knelt in front of the doorknob.

“Knick that from Jade?”

“Roxy, actually.” Dirk stood up and opened the door. Jake led the way, a solid mass of muscle ready to take on Pritch if he was awake. When it became clear that he wasn’t awake, they found the bedroom. It was cluttered with the usual bedroom items. Pictures. Clothes. Knick knacks. A computer on a desk, a halfway filled bookshelf. In his bed, Pritch slept with his covers nearly falling off the bed. 

Jake grabbed his wrists and pinned them down to the bed. Dirk shook him awake. “Pritch. We have a lot to talk about.”

Groggily, Pritch replied, “Who the hell are you?”

“Someone who has the upper hand. What do you know about Cal?”

“Who the-?” Dirk punched him in the gut before he could finish his sentence. He grunted and snarled at them. “I don’t know Cal.”

“We have proof. We want to know what you fucking know.” Another punch to the gut, another groan of repressed pain. 

“He doesn’t talk much!”

“You know something about him! Where are his safehouses?”

“I don’t know!” Punch and groan. 

“You traveled outside the country quite a bit when working for Cal. Where’d you go?”

“Alustus! He has a mansion there! That’s all I know,” Pritch admitted after Dirk refused to stop beating him. He coughed and bloodied spit flew onto his shirt. “Alustus.”

“We already knew that!” Dirk drew back his fist and would have landed a punch if Jake hadn’t released Pritch to hold Dirk back.

“Calm down,” he whispered. Pritch curled up into a ball on his bed. “He can’t tell us anything else.”

“Jake! Lemme go!”

“We’re very sorry Mr. Pritch, thank you for all the help,” Jake said, picking Dirk up and carrying him out of the apartment. He set him down in the hallway once the door was locked behind them. “He was telling the truth, love. He was a low level thug, he wouldn’t know everything.”

Dirk couldn’t reply. His hands, balled up in tight fists, were shaking. An indescribable amount of rage had settled on his shoulders. He was far from Dave, but tonight had made him feel close to finding him. As though he was locked away in Pritch’s room. “Let’s talk to Dregor.” 

“Who?”

“He’s a salamander. Had connections. I have his address too.”

“No.” Dirk stared at Jake with an open mouth. Jake placed his hand on Dirk’s cheek and sighed. “You’re fragile right now, love. Too invested. If you don’t stop while ahead, you might become a monster.”

After a few moments, Dirk sighed and said, “You’re right. Let’s go home. Tomorrow we’ll look for Dregor, and I’ll try to calm down.”

“Hey, I miss him too,” Jake said. He flashed a small, sad smile, and took Dirk’s hand. “How about I drive you home and give you a break?”

“Are you kidding?” Dirk asked? “You’d kill someone.”

“Maybe.”

The mansion in Alustus was useless. Dave couldn’t be there anymore. But, from the travel records Roxy had set up, Cal was going everywhere across the world. 

This would be a hell of a search.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I figured out what's wrong with my laptop! Anyway, expect two chapters soon after this one, and I hope this chapter was good! Please comment any advice or just whatever you want to say. Thanks for reading! Until next time~


	8. Chapter 7: Week Two

It hadn’t rained since the Striders had arrived. It had drizzled once or twice, luring the dehydrated poor out of their homes before dissipating, along with the tantalizing offer of water. Riots were happening in smaller, ghetto regions. The death count was up to thirteen on Monday, ten of which being upper class citizens. Two were children who had died of thirst, and the other was a homeless man who was trampled during a break in at a grocery store. Cal and Bro had yet to tell Dirk and Dave any of this; Abby had to explain the ongoings of the outside world in secret. They were, however, arguing. They rarely spoke, and the tension between the two when they were in the same room could be cut with a knife. 

Whether or not they lived in a wealthy neighborhood, they did begin taking precautions. Nobody visited. The doors and windows were locked by seven pm, and opened at 9 am. Abby refused to bend the rules in the case of Dirk, who wanted to get a better grasp on his surroundings in case of a riot. 

“It’s safer if you stay inside, Dirk.”

“It’s safer if I have a plan.”

On Tuesday, the government announced that they would start handing out water rations. Two bottles of water per day to humans and one per day to each slave. The lack of rations for trolls did not go unnoticed, but nobody except for radical liberals seemed to care. Dirk was able to learn from Hal that the politicians in Skaia were ignoring the drought completely. At best, he could find Trollumblr posts that pointed out the severity and where to donate, but support was otherwise absent.

Wednesday brought a mass murder. Someone walked into a grocery store with a military grade weapon and shot everyone in sight. They were leaving with two carts stuffed with crates of water when police detained him. He was a single, middle class man, who admitted he planned to sell the water at lower prices. 

Cal hired bodyguards and more security, and stationed them around the house. Leo was a tall broad mass of a man, with bright red hair and tanned skin, who stood guard at Dirk’s room. He was never quiet, but always alert. Abby made it hard to sneak out, but Leo made it impossible. Dave was stuck with a more introverted man, Greyson, who was younger and shorter, but fast as all hell. Leo always asked where Dirk was headed, but Greyson simply followed Dave. 

“He’s driving me crazy,” Dave said when they were playing video games in his room. “I only get privacy in the bathroom, and even then he’s waiting outside. Do you know how uncomfortable it is to piss when someone is listening?”

“Probably similar to how it feels to hear someone talk about how much they ate them?” Dirk guessed, nodding in the direction of Greyson. Greyson was leaning against the wall, his black hair slicked out of his face. He stared at them with piercing green eyes, with occasional glances to the window.

“I don’t hate him, I just hate everything he’s doing. Grey is cool, right man?” Greyson shrugged. “Yeah, we’re cool.”

“What about Leo?”

“Talks too much. He’d get along well with Jake.” 

On Thursday, two CEOs were outed for bribing the government to give them more water for their businesses. A trial was set up for them next week, but angry crowds slaughtered them as they were detained. Two police officers were killed, and fifteen of the rioters were killed in a police effort to protect the CEOs, now dead. 

Cal kept the doors locked at all times. Food and water had been stockpiled. They would be able to stay in the house for a week without sending someone out to go get supplies. By then, it would hopefully rain. 

On Friday, Dirk was looking out of the window. Leo had been talking nonstop for twenty minutes, despite being well aware that Dirk wasn’t listening. Nobody was outside, unless they were homeless. One of the trolls was still alive, managing to survive despite being ignored by anyone who could help. She was topless, with her ragged shirt wrapped around her head to keep the hair out of her face. 

Most of the trolls stayed huddled in the shade, where the might be able to last longer. She, however, was standing in the middle of the road, looking to the sky. Maybe she had lost it. Dirk certainly would have by now.

Then a large shadow passed over her, and she turned to follow the source of it. Leo stopped jabbering and joined Dirk to watch a large black helicopter land. “We need to leave,” Leo said, grabbing Dirk’s arm.

Dirk didn’t budge, and saw trolls in Skaia military uniforms hop out, carrying guns. They let the homeless troll on board, and the group of five nodded at each other and went in separate directions. The troll approaching Cal’s mansion was ginormous. He had curling horns reaching feet into the air. His make up resembled what the Makara brothers wore.

Shit. 

Oh god no. 

Mr. Makara approached the mansion with two very big guns. “We need to leave,” Dirk said, letting Leo drag him away.

“That’s what I said, kid,” he replied. Leo led Dirk to the slave wing. At the end of the hall was a bookshelf that Leo pushed to the side, revealing a narrow staircase. He pushed Dirk through and said, “Wait here. Everyone should be here soon. Don’t leave no matter what.” Then he pushed the bookshelf back. Dirk walked downstairs into a safe room. There was no furniture, and no visible exit.

“Hey, let me go man!” Dave shouted from the top of the stairs. 

“Sorry,” a gruff voice replied, and the bookshelf closed shut.

“Dave?”

“Dude, things got serious. Did you see Makara?”

“Yeah,” Dirk replied. Slaves began to trickle in, careful to surround Dirk and Dave from a distance.

“What are they doing?” Dave asked when he noticed the circle of carapaces around them.

“I think they’re protecting us,” Dirk replied. “Abby, are you in here?”

“Yes, Dirk,” she replied, squeezing her way through the crowd. 

“Where are Cal and Bro?”

“They are both upstairs with the bodyguards. They are all trained experts, they will be fine.”

“You don’t know the Makaras.” Dirk replied. “We need to get out of here and get Bro.”

“It’s safer if we-”

“You know,” Dave said, cutting in, “it’s way easier if you just listen to him, because he’s probably right anyway.”

Abby rolled her eyes. “I know. I can get us out. But who will go back for Master Darry?”

“I will,” Dirk said. “I’ll be able to grab a sword. Besides, it’s only Mr. Makara. I don’t have to worry about being bombarded with bullets.”

“Good luck,” Dave said, clapping Dirk’s shoulder. “I’ll see you soon.” 

“You too,” Dirk replied.

He ran upstairs and slammed into the bookshelf. There were a few thuds from the front, but no damage. Again, he slammed into it, this time rewarded with small splinters in the wood. Again and again he slammed into the shelf and the splinters stretched and widened until he was able to kick a hole through. Dirk climbed through and looked around. There was no damage. Loud, popping gunshots rang out from somewhere in the house. Slowly, Dirk made his way to the dining room, where a glass case hung above the table holding a decent katana. As he got closer, bullet holes decorated the walls. One of the bodyguards was lying on the ground in a puddle of blood. Dirk ignored this and kept walking. 

The dining room was a bloody mess. The glass case was broken, which made it easy for Dirk to take it. Two bodies were on the floor. One of them had bright red hair.

Dirk kept walking.

The shots got louder. A loud, deep laugh rang throughout the rooms. Quietly, Dirk moved towards the door of one of the guest rooms. Makara was in there. 

He opened the door. 

Cal was on the floor bleeding heavily, laughing slightly.

Bro was behind a dresser, taking shots at Makara. He was covered in purple blood but still kicking. 

He had no plan.

He had a sword in his hand, but hadn’t expected to find Bro face to face with Makara.

He raised the sword above his head and stepped over Cal. Makara didn’t hear him.

As he swung down, Makara whipped around and grabbed the sword.

“No!” Bro jumped out from behind the dresser and punched Makara. Dirk let go of the sword and fell to the ground in Cal’s blood. 

In a haze, he watched as Bro tried to get the sword, shouting, “Get out of here, run!”

As Dirk scrambled back over Cal, Makara stabbed Bro in the stomach.

He ran.

And then he fell.

And then someone carried him away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who thought I'd be less productive over summer? I don't know, but expect another chapter hopefully by tomorrow or very early tomorrow morning). I hope you enjoyed! Please leave comments if you have any criticisms for me to learn from, and thank you for reading. Until next time~


	9. Chapter 8: Walls Torn Down

For the next few days, Jake was compliant enough to go out with Dirk in the earliest hours of the morning to question the remaining thugs Cal had associated with. None of them had an useful information that Dirk didn’t already know. 

Then, with a stroke of luck, Reggie Garson, a troll that was one of the leaders of the Knights, was able to help them. They broke into his house, as usual. Then Jake pinned him down and Dirk started the questioning. 

“Where did Cal take you?”

“Who the fuck are you?” he snarled. A lowblood, probably a rust blood. 

Dirk took a knife out from his pocket and lifted it so Reggie could see it. “Not important. Now, let’s get to business. My companion and I are willing to give you two hundred dollars for information on where Cal could be.”

He laughed. “Two hundred? Boys, that’s chump change to what I usually make.” 

Dirk placed the knife against Reggie’s neck. “Well, you aren’t really in a position to argue.”

Reggie shifted underneath the knife. “Think Cal won’t be worse if I tell you shit?”

“I’ll kill him as soon as I see him. Tell me where he is.”

“He hasn’t been talking to anyone lately,” he admitted.

“We know,” Dirk replied. “Where could he be?”

“Check Alustus.”

Grinding his teeth, Dirk said, “We know that.”

“Then you two are shit out of luck,” Reggie smiled. 

Dirk pressed the knife harder against his neck. Beads of bronze blood appeared on his neck, and his teeth grit in pain. “Guess you are, too.” Reggie struggled beneath Jake, who tightened his grip on him. 

“I can’t tell you anything! You can’t kill that freak!”

“Believe me, I’ll find a way.”

Reggie groaned. “Listen, kid, you should give up.” Dirk didn’t respond, but instead looked to Jake. With a grimace on his face, Jake tightened his grip on Reggie’s right wrist. A sickening crack could be heard below Reggie’s scream of pain. “Are you two fucking insane?”

“Psychotic,” Dirk said. “Talk, or I’ll kill you.”

“Fine!” Reggie said. “But bump the price up to three hundred.”

“Deal.”

“Cal had a spot in Lithex, the country right above Alustus.Some sort of tunnel led most of the way from Alustus to the border. He could be there.”

Dirk fell back and mulled this over. After Bro’s death, he had went back to the safe room. It was empty. There was no sign of anyone, and no new exits. Cal had managed to escape regardless. Then, when the carapaces had escaped and contacted him, Dave and Cal were missing. 

“Let’s go, Jake.” Dirk put his knife away and Jake let go of Reggie. 

“Where’s my money?” Reggie asked, sitting up and covering the slow trickle of blood from his neck. 

“Don’t worry about it.” Dirk and Jake bolted out of the room and didn’t stop running until they were at the car. 

“Why didn’t you give him the money?”

“Because I knew you would leave it on his counter,” Dirk replied. He kissed Jake. “You’re too good.”

Jake chuckled. “Thanks. So, how are you getting to Lithex?”

Dirk shrugged. “No clue. I need to talk to people.” Jake nodded as Dirk started the car and drove home. The visit with Reggie had been the shortest visit so far. The sun had yet to set, and the inky darkness of the night was comforting. The streets were far from empty, but there were fewer cars out. 

As Dirk pulled into the the driveway, Jake cursed under his breath. “What?” Dirk asked.

“The lights are on.”

 

“Maybe Jade is pulling a late night?”

“I doubt it, she passes out by nine.” Together, they got out of the car. Jake put himself in front of Dirk when they walked into the house. Grandpa Harley was sitting on a stool in the kitchen, a glass of scotch in one hand and his shotgun in the other.

“Hello boys,” he said.

“Hello, sir,” Dirk said. Jake gave a shaky wave. 

“Now, I went outside with Beq, and imagine my surprise when I saw my car missing. Any idea where it went?”

Before Jake could say anything stupid, Dirk said, “We took it. It’s back in one piece.”

Grandpa Harley nodded. “And why would you two need it at this hour?”

Dirk, not missing that Grandpa Harley was now holding his shotgun in both hands, said, “We had to meet with someone.”

“If I found out you got my boy into drugs-”

“It’s about his brother!” Jake exclaimed. Both Dirk and Grandpa Harley stared at him. He swallowed and continued. “You know how his brother is missing. Roxy found a list of potential informants. We went to see if they knew anything about where Dave is.”

Grandpa Harley gave them a curious look. “What’d you find out?”

Dirk and Jake glanced at each other before Dirk said, “He might be in Lithex. It’s the only lead we have so far.”

Harley took a sip of scotch. “How do you boys plan on getting there?” They shrugged. “We’ll talk about it tomorrow. For now get to bed. And Jake, you’re grounded for a week. Dirk, pull something stupid like that again and you’re going to be mooching off somewhere else.

They sheepishly apologized and went up to Jake’s room. “Dammit, I wanted to do stuff this week,” Jake sighed. 

“You can adventure later, honey,” Dirk said, plopping onto his bed. “He’s not going to fly us out to Lithex, is he?” 

“He might. We can afford it,” Jake replied, laying next to Dirk. “Little spoon?”

“I’m taller than you.”

Jake pouted enough for Dirk to comply. As Jake nuzzled into Dirk’s neck, Dirk thought about Cal again. Cal with Dave. Bro, dead. Darry Strider, dead. Maybe the same could be said of Dave. That’d be brilliant, only one Strider left. 

“Hey,” Jake muttered, “what’s the matter?”

“Nothing.”

“Dave?”

Dirk sighed. “For once can you pretend you don’t know me well enough to know when I’m lying?” Jake laughed. “It’s not just Dave. It’s Bro, too.”

“What are you feeling?”

“Angry, for one thing. I know it wasn’t Bro’s fault, but he roped us into it. And now I feel bad when I’m angry at him because he had to go and died.” Dirk sighed. “He died protecting me.” He felt Jake nod his head. “And I’m worried sick about Dave. What if he up and died too, and now I’m risking my own neck to find another dead brother?”

“He’s alive,” Jake replied.

“How do you know?”

Jake shrugged and said, “I have a good feeling he’s still alive.”

“I don’t.”

“You’re not supposed to. You’re supposed to be worried sick so you’re driven to find him.”

Dirk turned to look at him. “You suck at cheering people up.”

Jake smiled and took off Dirk’s sunglasses. “No, you just need someone with a degree in psychology. Jane could help. But go to sleep. We’ll talk to Grandpa in the morning.” Jake’s breathing automatically slowed.

Dirk didn’t want to sleep. Every dream he had since being home had been filled with nightmarish images of the bloodied mansion. Jake hadn’t suspected anything, but he was afraid to risk tossing and turning next to Jake for another night. 

Then again, he was rather oblivious.

When Dirk heard the light flick off downstairs, he assumed Grandpa Harley was in bed. He tiptoed out of bed and across the room to the window. The Harley household had window screens that clicked into place, making it fortunately easy to sneak in and out in Dirk’s case. 

Jake hadn’t moved by the time Dirk was hanging out of the window. He dropped down into the hedges below and looked around. The Chess River that made Genesis City a prime trade destination back when it was first formed ran little more than a mile away from the Harley household. Skinny jeans weren’t exactly favorable exercise clothes, but he could manage.

When he was younger, Bro would go running to keep in shape when he couldn’t afford new swords. On weekends, summer days, and weekdays when Bro didn’t have to work, Dirk would tag along with him. Dave would get strapped into the baby carrier, and they’d all run together.

Legs pumping, lungs burning, Dirk realized he should probably start working out more.

Also, the crying thing whenever he thought about Bro? That had to go too.

There wasn’t a grave he could visit. The Protectors of Alternia’s occupation of Alustus hadn’t been broadcasted to Skaia, but the internet could be relied on to circulate some blog posts concerning the matter. Supposedly, some of the murdered humans were being hanged from trees and poles. Dirk didn’t have the heart or stomach to look at them. 

Darry Strider. Darry fucking Strider.

At the edge of Chess River, a once scenic and elegant, now polluted and pungent landmark, Dirk fell to his knees. When was the last time he had something to drink? He could climb and fight as much as he wanted, but cardio was always the death of him. 

Where was Dave? 

What about WQ? And Greyson?

The stars above him were hidden. A combination of smog and light pollution hid the glittering constellations above him. As he stared at the blank sky, his phone buzzed in his pocket.

“Hey,” he answered, not recognizing the number.

“Strider? It’s Vriska.”

“Evil Serket, gotcha. What’s up?”

“You know where I live, right? Follow the river north from the Harley house is what Jade does. I think I got a lead on Dave.”

Dirk hung up and, not noticing that he was still tired as fuck, bolted to the Serket household.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this is the last update for a while. But don't worry, for every day I don't update, there will be a chapter (which is at 4 chapters for the moment). I hope you enjoyed! Comment any criticisms you have, and thank you so much for reading! Until next time~


	10. Chapter 9: Camaraderie

“You’re crying again.”

“Huh?”

Greyson, who had apparently used up his quota of words for the day, merely handed Dirk a handkerchief. Dirk wiped his eyes and shoved it in his pocket before asking, “Do you know where Dave is?” 

Greyson shook his head no.

“Did you think I would know?”

Greyson shrugged. 

“There was some way to get out of the safe room. A passage, I think.”

“Yeah,” Greyson said. “And the Protectors of Alternia were able to follow everyone out.”

“I don’t know where it led.” Greyson hummed in response. “Didn’t Cal give you plans for the house? So you’d know where to protect, secret passages and whatnot?” He shook his head no again. “Well fuck.”

“We could go to the fallback location.”

“There was a fallback location?” Greyson nodded. “Where is it? Did the slaves know?”

“It’s in Brevin. Far north, it’s the closest part of Freeka to Ketul. The slaves weren’t told. Cal figured the Protectors of Alternia would only attack humans. Besides, there aren’t enough supplies to accommodate the number of slaves.”

“Dave was last with Abby. We need to find the slaves to find him.” Greyson shrugged. “We could look through the news. See which places are being overrun with refugees.”

“There will be a media blackout. Trolls control this place now. They’ll send out news that they’re treating everyone kindly, focusing mainly on the homeless troll population. Nobody will know about the humans. It’ll be a silent genocide.”

“There will be something somewhere. Where are we now?”

“The border of Lithex. You can ask around to find if there are any refugees.”

“Right. You can find us a place to stay for the night, I guess. Got an extra cell phone on you?” Greyson shook his head, but tossed Dirk a walkie talkie. Without any more words, the separated, Greyson to the rural looking areas and Dirk to the small urban sprawl of buildings. 

There were a few teens hanging around the edge of the city, passing a paper bag with smoke rising from the opening. When the noticed Dirk, the immediately became guarded. One of them, a troll that looked like a watered down version of Meulin, said something in Alternian. Not in the mood to translate, Dirk said, “I don’t care what you’re smoking. I need information.”

The looked at each other, bewildered. Then, a red blooded troll who looked to be the oldest, said in a thick Alternian accent, “We know nothing.”

“Yeah, don’t care about whoever your dealer is. Have there been any refugees coming in around here? Humans, carapaces?”

“Nobody.” One of the humans whispered to the troll, and they grinned. “Unless, you have money?”

Dirk scowled at them and walked away, hearing their disappointed sighs. Further into the city there were men and women walking past him in business suits, looking too busy and too intimidating for Dirk to bother asking for help. Greyson radioed in to give him the address of the hotel and promise that he would be able to pay for a cab to get him there.

Dirk had a stroke of luck when he came across a park. A group of human kids were playing together. Dirk glanced around for parents and, when he saw none, approached them. “Hey guys.”

“You have funny hair,” one of them announced. 

Dirk grimaced. Without the opportunity to shower, there was probably dried hair gel sticking his hair up in every possible direction. 

“I guess I do. Have you guys seen any groups of carapaces walking by? Maybe a blond teen, sunglasses, probably wearing red?” They all shook their heads. “Okay, well thank you anyway!” Before he had the chance to walk away, a woman came running up to him. 

“What were you doing to these children?” she asked, death threats seeping from her glare.

Dirk put his hands up and sad, “I’m looking for my younger brother. Sixteen. Blond. Sunglasses and red clothes.”

She pursed her lips together. “That’s a bit old to get lost at a park.”

“We were from Alustus, something happened and we got separated. He might’ve been with a group of carapaces.”

“There were a couple dressed like slaves, but they didn’t have a human.” She gestured for the children to run back with other adults. 

“Was one of those carapaces tall, white, female, and did the others follow her orders?”

“Yes, actually. She went to the more expensive district in the city. There are plenty of hotels she could be at.” 

Dirk sighed with relief. “Thank you so much.” He jogged away and pulled out the walkie talkie. “Hey, Greyson, I got a lead. Call the cab.”

 

“I can call a few hotels, bribe some of the workers for where Abby could be,” Greyson said. 

The hotel room wasn’t fancy. There were two twin beds, one bathroom, and a tv with one channel. Neither of them had an supplies, so they were already planning to do some scouting around the markets.

“Sounds like a plan to me,” he replied. 

“You did mention that Dave wasn’t seen with them, though.”

“Abby will know where he last was. That sounds like a lead to me.” Greyson shrugged and laid down. “Why are you sticking with me?”

“I was hired to protect Dave. This is the only way I can do that.”

“That’s borderline obsessive.”

“Leo would have done the same.”

“Did you know him beforehand?”

“We were cousins by marriage.”

“Oh.”

“It’s okay. We both knew what we were getting into.”

“If you say so.”

“I know you. And I know you have social anxiety. And I know you have no clue what to say. Don’t try to make me talk.”

Dirk couldn’t respond for a few minutes. When he found his voice, he said, “I’m sorry.” He laid in bed. Greyson switched the lamp off. 

Dirk was unable to sleep, and soon found that Greyson suffered the same affliction when he said, “I’m sorry too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, expect a six chapter update this week. That's all I have to say for now. Thanks for reading so far, and I hope you enjoyed this. Until next time~


	11. Chapter 10: Fight Or Flight

“Dirk, it is one in the morning.”

“It is, and it also happens to be the day a new season of your favorite animated series came out today, and you’re still binge watching it.”

“... Touche,” Jane replied. She yawned and asked, “So why did you call me?”

“I’m at the Serket house. No clue how long I’ll be here, and I know you’ll be the first person Jake calls if I don’t get home in time.”

“Smart. Try and get home though, I’m exhausted with one more episode to go.”

“Thanks. Have fun with your gay detectives.” Dirk hung up and turned back to Vriska, Aranea, and Meenah. “So, what did you guys find out?”

Meenah grinned. “I got Mr. Captor to help us out. Sollux is busy with Damara and her shit, but the old man pulled through. He got us video footage from Lithex, Freeka.”

“Already knew he might be there, but let’s see it.”

Aranea, who was holding her laptop, opened up a file and handed it to him. The footage was black and white and terrible quality, probably from a store security camera. It was focused on a desk, where some customers were talking to the cashier. A tall, lanky individual approached them. His curly hair was sticking out from under his baseball cap.

“That’s Cal,” Dirk murmured. 

“He was a regular at mom’s casino,” Vriska said. “Think he’s got Dave?”

“I’m positive.” Aranea went to grab the laptop back, but Dirk noticed something. “Wait, there’s a horn in the corner.” He pointed to the bottom left of the right of the screen. “Looks like a ram, right?”

They crowded around him. “Shit,” Vriska said.

“Well, many trolls share the same style of horns,” Aranea said.

“It could be her,” Meenah said. “We need to ask Captor for the rest of the file.”

“Why would she be in Freeka? Eurorus would make more sense!” Aranea said.

“She was basically a slut after their mom was arrested,” Vriska said. Everyone looked at her. “What? It was common knowledge.”

“Cal never dealt with prostitutes. Drug addicts, maybe, but never prostitutes.”

“She was a stoner,” Meenah said.

Dirk thought for a moment. Kidnapping a troll while running away from a troll terrorist organization didn’t make sense. Cal was too smart and too experienced to do anything without reason. “Did the Megido family involved with any gangs?”

“None,” Aranea said.

 

“Not exactly,” Meenah said. “Who knows what happened in prison.”

“Do cults count?” Vriska asked. “Their mom was obsessed with dark east Alternian magic, and Damara got into it too.”

“I don’t know.” Dirk glanced out the window. The sun was beginning to rise, painting the sky a light purple with red on the horizon. “I need to get home. Thanks guys. I’ll make sure everyone knows if we find anything else out.”

“Need a ride?” Aranea asked.

“You have a car?”

“Our mom does,” she shrugged. 

 

Dirk did not know much about cars, but was able to appreciate how gorgeous the car was. After thanking Aranea, he climbed back into Jake’s room just as he walked in. “You asshole!”

“Hey babe.”

“Where were you? I was just about to call Jane to find out where the bloody hell you ran off to!”

“The Serket’s called. I have proof that Cal’s in Lethix.”

“Had me fucking worried! Was about to call the police! No note or anything, you dumb ass!” As Jake stuttered over another insult, he stopped. A few seconds passed as he was in deep thought before he said, “Wait, what?”

“He’s in Lethix. We have a lead.”

Jake gaped and pulled Dirk into a hug. “Grandpa just bought tickets!”

“He seriously set up flight plans?” 

“Yeah!” Jake replied. “He has business plans there anyway!”

“Deus ex machina?”

“Deus ex machina,” Jake agreed. “We’re going to leave in two days, Jade will be coming with us. Do you have enough clothes for a week long stay?” Dirk nodded. “Good. Start packing.”

“We need to tell the rest of our friends. They’re just as concerned as we are.” Dirk pulled out his phone and logged into his account.

timaeusTestified [TT] joined FrUiTy FUCKING wizards 

TT: Alright, here’s the situation. Mr. Captor found video footage from Lethix that confirms our suspicions regarding the area. Jake, Jade, Mr. Harley and I will be flying there in two days. It is next to Alustus, so there may be a run in with the Protectors of Alternia. If anyone finds out a plan to attack Lethix, we need to know immediately. We hope to find Dave or at least get a solid lead and location. We may have found information on Damara, but nothing can be confirmed yet. Until then, stay alert. The PA is getting antsy. They might take over any day with the elections so close. Stay safe and good luck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy. Lets see if i can update the remaining four chapters tomorrow (and then a few more). Hope you enjoyed! Thanks for reading, and I'll see you all at the next chapter! Until next time~


	12. Chapter 11: White Queen

They didn’t immediately search out for Abby. Greyson bought groceries for the next week, just in case they had to stay longer than intended. Dirk stopped by thrift shops and got casual changes of clothes. Dirk couldn’t walk around in the same change of clothes and Greyson couldn’t keep dressing like a secret agent. 

There were five hotels in the district Dirk was told of. Greyson and him (mostly him) called the hotels and asked for any carapace there under the name of Abby. Nobody like that was there. “Different name?”

“Most likely. If I was a slave, I’d go by my birth name to avoid recapture.”

“Shit. I don’t know her birth name. What are the odds that we could call them all back and ask if they have any white female carapaces, period?” Greyson shrugged. “Right. I doubt they’d be able to disclose that information if we weren’t police.”

“Well,” Greyson muttered.

“Fake ID?”

“Real one. Cal is an important guy all over Freeka. I had some experience as a bodyguard beforehand, so when Cal branched out asking for protection my boss sent me over here.”

“And Leo?” No response. “Okay, let’s go look for Abby.”

“Just me. I don’t have an ID for you. I’ll bring her over when I find her.” Before Dirk could protest, Greyson was out of the door.

He didn’t have any money. When Greyson had carried him away from the mansion, his glasses had dropped and been damaged. Even now that he was willing to contact his friends and inform them of the current situation, Hal was too glitchy to do so.

Dirk turned the tv on and flopped onto the bed. The only channel available to them was, of course, a news channel. He sat through the local news for a while. Taxes would be raised to make better classes available for students. There was going to be a church bake sale (and, after not having something sweet and diabetes inducing in a few weeks, he was tempted to stop by). 

Then the news anchor switched topics. Reports came in that refugees from Alustus were flooding in. Most were carapaces. Very rarely did an uninjured human walk through. No trolls were spotted. Lethix officials were debating whether or not they should investigate, but the Grand Highblood, someone who apparently had deep ties to Alustus, promised that all remaining citizens were safe. A meeting was being planned for all countries in Freeka to discuss the matter. 

Overseas affairs were bland. The election in Skaia was a stalemate. Eurorus was experiencing human revolts all over, being a population primarily made up of trolls. Documents were coming from expert hackers that proved conspiracy theory about government sanctioned xenophobia against humans. 

Of course, everyone had already found out that the PA was a bit more extensive than they thought. But what was the history behind them? The attack on Alustus was some sort of an inside job, as homeless trolls guided and led them. But Eurorus hadn’t had any refugee crisis or outward attack.

It couldn’t have been formed after the troll populace left Alternia. Right?

Tidbits from cultural appreciation months were dredged from the back of his mind. Trolls were a race of conquerors. Like human conquistadors and pilgrims on steroids. Most races were slaughtered upon contact, so the trolls could live comfortably on the new planet. But some were left alive for trade purposes and allies against other species. Inevitably, their traditions and cultures would diffuse into troll society. The Protectors of Alternia could be thousands of years old, a sort of troll supremacy group. 

Upon initial contact, humans and trolls had fought three wars against each other. Neither side was innocent, and xenophobic groups were formed on both sides. Plenty of human groups still existed, but most were small, insignificant, and classified as terrorist groups. Membership was punishable by imprisonment. Same went for smaller troll supremacy groups. And any other species.

But PA would be historic. It’d be more powerful than any government. 

Someone knocked on the door. Dirk checked to find Greyson standing with Abby. “Long time no see.”

“Dirk, glad to see you’re doing well,” Abby replied. Greyson walked in silently and sat at the table. Dirk sat on his own bed, and he motioned for Abby to sit on Greyson. “I wasn’t expecting you to survive a run in with that large of a troll.”

“Bro didn’t.” Before Abby could offer words of comfort, he said, “Don’t worry. Did Dave make it out?”

“Yes, of course, we all left together. Dave was safe from any harm of the PA.”

“What exactly happened?” 

“I herded everyone out of the safe room into the tunnel. It was underground for maybe two miles, but someone did start following us at about a mile in. If we were quiet enough, the footstep echoed ever so slightly. But we were safe. The tunnel dropped us off away from the town. We saw it in the distance. Explosions, fires everywhere. It was a warzone.” Greyson nodded. “Dave kept trying to run back. He was dead set on finding you. We didn’t let him, but he was adamant. When we got to the Lethix border, he refused to come any farther. We agreed to let him stay, so long as one of the slaves stayed with him. Earnest stayed behind with him.”

“Can you contact him?”

“Of course. I do care about my coworkers. He said Cal found the both of them and they are now in Germain.” 

“Fuck!”

Abby put her hand on Dirk’s shoulder. “I know you were trying to get away from Cal. But he is the lesser of two evils. Bide your time. Stay with him, he can offer you protection. A familiar face. He’s powerful. He can find you.”

“It’d be a death wish without Bro to protect us.”

“Not necessarily,” Greyson murmured. 

“He’s right. I’m free. You have contacts outside that can help you.”

“Wait,” Greyson said. “That’s not how it works. You’re a slave. Property of the owner unless explicit permission is given. You aren’t free.”

Abby smiled. “I am. Cal won’t come looking for me. I won’t go searching for him. I am a legal citizen and I do plan on leaving soon. My family is rather wealthy.”

Greyson cocked his head and Dirk asked, “What do you mean?”

“Back on the carapace planet, my ancestors were rulers of Prospit. I am, by blood right, a queen. If I choose a husband, he would become a king, technically speaking. While I have no ruling power, I won’t need to work now that I’m free.” She smiled at Dirk, almost in a motherly way. “You’re safe, Dirk. I will protect you this time. Find Cal.”

Dirk swallowed. “I need to think about it. Plan first. Do you have a phone?” She nodded. “Good. Give your number to Greyson, we’ll be able stay in touch.”

“I’ll talk to other carapaces. I should be able to find Cal.”

“Thank you.” Greyson, who had finished jotting Abby’s number down, looked up and nodded as a thanks.

“It is the least I could do. I must be on my way. I have a number of things to try now that I’m free again.” Dirk opened the door for her on her way out, and she surprised him by hugging him. “Dave is safe,” she said. “I promise.”

Dirk nodded, not much liking what sounded like an empty promise, but appreciating the caring gesture nonetheless. 

“White Queen,” Greyson said when she left the room.

“Huh?”

“That’s her real name. White Queen.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully I can update the rest by tonight. Gosh it's gotten hard for me to right, but I'm trying to make my way through it. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed! Thank you so much for reading, and check in every few hours for the next chapter. Until next time~


	13. Chapter 12: Hopefully Lethix is Useful This Time

“I’ve never been to Freeka before!” Jake said excitedly as soon as they landed. Well, that wasn’t the first time he said that. He had been saying that every five minutes so far, and probably wouldn’t stop until they returned. Jade, who had sailed the seas with her grandfather and been everywhere across the world, shared many glances of annoyance with Dirk. 

“I know,” Dirk replied, again. “But we aren’t here for fun. It’s business. Saving lives,” Dirk added. Again. Jake merely shrugged.

“C’mon, kids,” Grandpa Harley said. He led them out of the plane, bringing a surprisingly well behaved Beq. The airport was a small one. They couldn’t get a direct flight, and did stop in Eurorus for a layover (where Jake told them he knew like the back of his hand). Even if it was exhausting, Dirk silently applauded his foresight. He didn’t trust any of the huge airports, as he was almost positive Cal was watching them all closely. 

They all only brought carry on, so they didn’t have to waste time waiting for luggage. The airport wasn’t crowded and there was barely any traffic. Without a rental shop, they relied on a cab that Grandpa Harley had called beforehand. 

Of course, they were staying at an upscale hotel in the capital city, St. Vernon city. Capitol Hearth Hotel had an agreement to keep them hidden from anyone who came looking for them. The bellboys at the front ushered them in and carried their bags. Everything screamed upper class. Dirk knew the shared wealth of the Harley-English family, but experiencing it first hand was almost nauseating. It bore a striking similarity to the lavish surroundings Cal favored.

For a burning moment, Dirk missed his shitty apartment.

Jake was gawking at everything. So was Jade, who mentioned she had usually stayed in forest cabins for easier hunting. The polished marble walls were beautiful, and the dark wooden floor offered a pleasant contrast. Many paintings hung from the wall, from artists famous enough to matter but not enough to be remembered. Every worker behind the desk and running around was wearing a deep blue suit. The windows practically glistened.

They weren’t staying in the penthouse. They were staying in two separate hotel rooms, Jake and Dirk in one, and Grandpa Harley, Jade, and Beq in the other. “Where do we start?”Jake asked after the bellboys left the room.

“With a phone call,” Dirk replied. “Hal. Open up.” His glasses turned on and, to his joy, Hal was functional. Without the time to fix everything, he had to give vocal commands. “Dial White Queen.”

After three rings, she picked up. “Hello, Dirk. It’s been a while.”

“Yeah. I’m back in Lethix with my boyfriend’s family. Where are you?”

“Eurorus. Carapace rights, social justice, rallies, the usual. What do you need?”

“Can your people look into the whereabouts of Cal? I have a video from a store somewhere in Lethix that I can send you.”

“I can have some people look into it. What about Cal finding you? He has far more sources stationed in Lethix than I do.”

“Stay safe. I’ll call you if we find something out.” 

When Dirk hung up, Jake asked, “Who was that?”

“One of the slaves Cal used to own.”

“Still in touch?”

“Of course.” Dirk glanced at Jake. “What?”

“You never told me about Alustus. Or Lethix.” Before Dirk could protest, Jake said, “I know. It was rough. Harder than anything I could imagine. But you need to talk about it. I’ve noticed the nightmares.”

“I’m not having nightmares.”

Jake smiled sadly. “Right. Okay. You’re fine. Of course. Just, love, talk to me.”

“I am. I talk to you everyday. You’re the only one I talk to frequently.” Dirk, who had turned away out of impulse, glanced back. Jake looked ashamed, and an indescribable feeling washed over him.

“I…”

“Let’s just go for a walk or something. See the sights or something. Never been in Freeka.”

“I know.” Jake, after stuffed his bag into the dresser (which Dirk knew meant he’d be unpacking later), left to grab Jade from the opposite room. Dirk found an old hat in his bag. It was one of Bro’s. Dirk had been trying on his hate since the day he was born in an attempt to look as rad as he did. Never quite fit, but he was close. And if it came at the risk of him screwing over his awesome hair, then so be it. He took of his shades and found the colored contacts in his bag. With them, his eyes looked browner and he wouldn’t be as sensitive to the sun. 

“Where are we going?” Jade asked, peeking into the room. Dirk faced her and her mouth opened. Then she cracked into a grin and started giggling. “Wow Dirk. You look, uh, good!”

“Yeah yeah, kid, let’s get going. Jake’s the one who downloaded a tourism app.” Dirk ran his fingers through the hair sticking out from under his hat. If he could guess, he probably looked like a 90s anime character. Hopefully irony would save his image. 

“Of course he did,” Jade sighed. Grandpa asked us to take Beq for a walk so we probably can’t go to any buildings.”

“Jade, the only places that take in dogs with no questions asked are pet stores and Starbucks.”

She smiled sheepishly and said, “Thank god for capitalism?”

“Thank god for capitalism,” he agreed. 

Jake popped his head in and held up a small wad of cash. “Do you guys want souvenirs?”

They began to walk outside, and Jade said, “You’re such a little kid, Jake.”

“Oh really? Did you bring your Squiddles plush on the trip with you?”

Jade blushed. “Of course I did, he likes to travel. And he’s good luck.”

Dirk shrugged. “We need luck. Jake, lemme see your phone.” Jake handed his to Dirk, who searched through the landmarks of St.Vernon. There was a church, of course. Many churches, but nobody seemed interested. The capitol building didn’t allow animals to come in unless they were seeing certified service dogs. There were some fancy stores they could go to for fun, mostly local food places.

“In the mood for frozen yogurt?”

“Why would we eat fake ice cream?” Jade asked. 

“How about we go to Central Park?” Jake asked. “It’s not too hot out. Maybe it’ll be nice to get out for more than five minutes. And it’s walking distance.” Dirk shrugged. “That’s a yes. Majority rules!”

“You realize I’d be happy to go to the park, right?” Jade asked, shoving into Jake. Dirk moved out of the way between the two, knowing that both of them were very strong. 

Lethix was primarily human, but treated different species’ decently enough. Trolls, carapaces, salamanders, and reptilian species were all minority groups with more than enough complaints, but nobody could deny they were treated like gods compared to how those in Alustus were treated. “This place could be a hot spot for trouble soon enough,” Dirk muttered.

“What do you mean?” Jade whispered back, smiling at one of the men who walked past them. 

“It won’t be a priority for a while, I think, but the PA could try and incite a rebellion. There are plenty of jaded trolls here.” Dirk tilted his head to a group of homeless trolls, only one of them being human. 

“We should be safe here for a while. I wouldn’t expect any direct take overs until Alustus is secured,” Jake replied. “Shouldn’t happen until after we’re safe back home.” But how safe would they be there? Dirk wasn’t sure he wanted to ask that, just in case he did get an answer. 

The park was well kept. Despite the constant heat, the grass was vibrant green and luscious. There were plenty of trees that offered a substantial amount of shade, with Alternian vines climbing up the trunk and producing bright flowers. Multiple children were playing games of catch with each other or with their parents. There were other dogs, but they didn’t pique the interest of Beq, who stood loyally by Jade. “Where do you guys want to sit?”

Jake pointed to a tree farther away from the others and they made their way to it. “We’ll be able to talk in private here.”

“Don’t know about what,” Dirk retorted. “I’m waiting on another lead. I don’t think searching through every store across the country of Lethix is productive.”

“Do you still have the footage?” Jade asked.

“Left it at the hotel,” Dirk answered.

“Damn. I was wondering if I could watch it a few times. We might’ve been able to find out what store it was from the products or interior design.”

“I have experts working on it,” Dirk said. “They’ll get farther than we could.” Dirk looked around and spotted a black carapace watching them in the distance. He squinted at them, then looked at the clothes. He was well aware that most of WQ’s allies were Prospit carapaces, but now that the countries had other rivals, it was likely the different races would collide.

“Who’s that?” Jake asked, following Dirk’s gaze.

“Probably someone looking after us,” Dirk replied, though a gnawing feeling in his stomach said otherwise. “Maybe we should leave though.”

“We just got here. Wouldn’t that look suspicious?” Jade asked. 

“Probably,” Dirk said. “You two stay here, I’m going for a walk. If I don’t get back here in ten minutes, go back to the hotel. I’ll meet you there.” Not waiting for them to agree, Dirk lowered his cap and began to walk away. Central Park was surrounded by crowded stores. The Game Hive could be counted on to have a myriad of teenagers who looked just like him. 

Pretending to turn on his heel and absorb the city sights, Dirk looked back to find the carapace following him. He resumed his walk, trying his best to keep the same pace. The Game Hive did not disappoint. With the release of a new mobile Fiduspawn game, there were many teens on their phones. Dirk went up the stairs to the second floor.

Temporarily free from the carapace, Dirk looked for a bathroom. When he didn’t find that, he went for the obvious best second solution: an employee's only room. He practically dove in and, ignoring one of the troll employees, made a break for the set of stairs. 

Once out of the back door of the Game Husk (where one of the workers yelled ‘parkour!’), Dirk turned right and ran for the main street. If there weren’t any more carapaces, it would be a quick run home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it. This is the day I get the other two chapters up. Watch for the updates guys. And thanks for reading! It really means a lot to me, and I've been getting back into the groove of writing. I hope you enjoyed! Until next time~


	14. Chapter 13: Germain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many of you may think this is a duplicate chapter. I accidentally posted this one instead of chapter 12, so go to the previous chapter and catch up on that one. Anyway, thanks for reading this, I hope you enjoy, and expect the next chapter tonight. Until next time~

“I can’t believe there was nothing else in Lethix,” Dirk sighed when they finally got off the bus. After a week of asking around and finding nothing about Cal or Dave, Greyson bought bus tickets that would get them from Freeka to Eurorus. It had been thirty hours worth of sitting in a bus. 

“We have a lead here,” Greyson replied, stretching his arms out. “You’re family is primarily Germain, right?”

“Yeah. Dave and I both speak it. Maybe he escaped?”

“You two ever been to Germain?”

“Not in years.”

“I doubt it, then.” Greyson didn’t say anything else, but Dirk knew he was right. At this point, both of them probably had noticeable accents, and Dave probably didn’t remember the terrain enough to run for it alone. 

“Where to, then?” Dirk asked. It was cloudy, as was most of Eurorus all the time. It was a nice change from the heat constantly beating down on them in Freeka. However, they had very few clothes fit for the weather. “Right now, we’re in a rural area. If I know Cal, he’d probably be staying in some suburban upper class area.”

Greyson took a map out of his pocket. “Keep in mind, Eurorus is mostly made up of trolls. It’d make it easy to find Cal in an upper class neighborhood, because he’d probably be the only human there.”

“I can ask some locals. You don’t speak Germish, do you?”

“I can find a bathroom,” Greyson replied. 

“Gotcha. You get a hotel, there should be English speakers around here. Radio me when you have a spot. If I find anything out, you’ll be the first to know,” Dirk said. They separated, and Dirk began walking down the road. The bus had dropped them off in the middle of nowhere. While Greyson was walking to the town in the distance, Dirk was roaming the edges of farms. 

Germain was entirely industrialized, and most citizens worked in factories. However, a sizeable portion of the country was fertile and plenty of trolls and humans from farming families continued the tradition. 

There were a few people out in the fields, and Dirk waved over to them and struck up casual conversations about the surrounding areas. He was able to play the dumb tourist, and asked about nice neighborhoods where his uncle might be at. There were a few people too suspicious to tell him (with his long hair not gelled up, he looked a lot like a stoner). He did learn about other communities. There was Wyndgate, which was the closest in this area. Some offered the locations of cities, and had enough travelling experience to point out areas elsewhere. Tuxen, Blue Mountain, and Surrey. 

Greyson radioed him, informing him of an inn called Der Hogstelle, only a half a mile from the bus stop. Bidding farewell to the locals, he began reviewing his notes as he walked. He repeated the names of the the neighborhoods, burning them into his memory. 

The thought occurred to him that he could travel to the Kingdom and find Mrs. Harley, but the prospect of getting to Jake seemed less important than finding Dave.

The only proper adjective to describe Der Hogstelle was cozy. It was a nice break from the modern and lavish surroundings that had been bombarding Dirk lately. It was entirely wooden, and appeared to be family owned. The lobby held an old tv, a table with four chairs, and a couch against the wall. He spoke shitty Germish to the person behind the desk, and they replied in shitty English that he and Greyson were in room 2A.

Greyson opened the door a few moments after Dirk knocked. “I have some places,” Dirk said, tossing his notepad to Greyson. Greyson skimmed the list and nodded. “I guess tomorrow we could head out, search around.”

“We’ll need disguises. I could buy you colored contact lenses. Hair dye would be good too.”

“Let’s go, then. You need to bring me to translate.” 

Greyson, not wanting to spend more money than necessary, walked behind Dirk, who was translating the signs as best he could. Only a block away there was a small grocery store, where they bought brown contacts, brown hair dye, and hair gel. Greyson almost grabbed hair clippers until he noticed Dirk’s death glare.

“So… Have you talked to your family yet?” Dirk asked as they were waiting to check out. 

“It wouldn’t be safe for me to do so until after we separate,” Greyson replied in a flat voice, no emotion crossing his face.

“Do they know about Leo yet?” Dirk asked in a low, guilt stricken voice. 

Greyson’s jaw clenched for a split second before he said, “I believe so.” Dirk didn’t know what to say, so he didn’t reply. He handled the transactions between the cashier instead, and they didn’t speak more until they began walking back to the inn. “What about your friends?”

“I haven’t gotten the opportunity to talk to them yet,” Dirk said. Greyson cocked an eyebrow but said nothing. “I’ll go back to Skaia when I get Dave.”

“What if you don’t?”

“Find Dave? Of course I’m going to find him. He’s my brother. He’s all I have.”

Greyson’s brows furrowed together and a slight frown appeared on his face. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, thinking. Then he said, “I don’t think that’s the truth. I think you have a lot of people that matter to you. I just think you always put your family first.”

“Family always comes first.”

“Whoever you have back in Genesis City is important. They matter. The people you care about isn’t limited to two people. The people you care about aren’t all missing or gone. Searching the world for your brother with a stranger isn’t healthy. You need to go home.”

Dirk waited until they were safely in their room to say, “So what? You think that after all this time, this effort, the money you spent, I’m going to go home with my tail between my legs and let Dave try to find his way to me?”

“No,” Greyson said. “I’m suggesting we stay here for a week. We wait. We stay a week. And if we can’t find him, I’m sending you home. I’ll keep looking for him here, and you can go back to Genesis City. And I’ll send Dave home no matter what.”

Dirk inhaled deeply, trying to calm his heart. An indescribable sense of anger was pulsing through him. Stay calm. Stay calm. Stay calm. “I’ll think about it.” 

“Think about it all you like, it’s happening regardless.” Greyson gave a very small, very cocky smile. “Should we head out? We could go to Wyndgate, and I’m fine with renting a car if it means travelling to the other places. Germain is small.”

Dirk shrugged, resisting the urge to punch Greyson. “Just let me do the talking. It’s a good walk away.”


	15. Chapter 14: Run Boy, Run

“Yes, it was a black carapace,” Dirk said, for what might have been the fifth time. Jake and Jade hadn’t come back to the hotel room yet, and to avoid making the choice of calling them and being met with Cal’s voice, decided to contact White Queen. 

Her voice, scratchy from the phone, replied, “I only have explicit control over white carapaces. Old world rules dictate that much. The black carapaces turned to-”

“Democracy, I know, I finished high school,” Dirk said.

“Well, the black royal family wouldn’t have the control I have. It could be a local gang, most likely controlled by Cal.”

“That’s what I thought.” Dirk sighed, looking at the door again. He just needed Jake to walk in. Safe. They were all safe. Safe from Cal. And, shit, if Mr. Harley found out that Dirk got his kids lost… Oh boy, not an event Dirk would look forward to. 

“Dirk, stop feeling sorry for yourself. I can feel how pathetic you are through the phone and it isn’t pleasant.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be nice?” Dirk asked, probably sounding more sarcastic than anything else. He was frustrated. Blindingly frustrated.

“I consider myself as your mother figure,” WQ said. “I’m supposed to push you. Did you call them yet?”

Dirk swallowed. “I haven’t found the time.”

WQ hummed. “Call him now. Or Jade. Then call me back. Oh, and we figured out what store it was. It was a thrift store from Alexandria. Small town. Not important for you. What you should know is that we were able to trace a credit card trail. Cal uses many different accounts, but all are under a name that is an anagram of Darry Strider. The last few purchases have been in Bertern, Germain. I can get you a ride there to do some searching.”

“I won’t need help there. Thanks,” Dirk said, hanging up. Bertern. A fruitless search with Greyson.

Greyson.

His fingers had worked with a mind of their own to dial Jake’s number. Muscle memory. Jake was a lifeline. From the times when it seared his soul with warmth to when he felt cold and faded and empty, Jake was a universal constant.

He held the phone to his ear, Greyson in the back of his mind. One ring. Two. Three. Four.

“Where are you?”

A wave of leftover anxiety washed over him, and the desire to vomit never felt so utterly calming. “Thank fuck!” Dirk said. “I’m back at the hotel.”

Faintly, Dirk heard Jake say, “He’s safe.” Then, closer now, “Jade and I were just heading back. I wanted to call, but…” he trailed off.

“No, I understand,” Dirk said. He smiled. “I was afraid to call you too. When will you two be back?”

Jake asked Jade, then replied, “Probably five minutes? So what was the carapace about?”

“Definitely not one of White Queen’s. We should only assume a white carapace is safe. Might be from a local gang, or Cal.”

“He knows we’re here?”

Not wanting to alarm him, Dirk said, “I doubt it, but we should act that way. Just in case.”

“Right. I’ll see you in a little bit, love. Tell Grandpa for me, please.” Jake hung up, and Dirk couldn’t stop smiling. A swirling pit of nausea and pain was still swirling in his stomach, but it was smaller, less vicious. Less angry. Less consuming. 

He put his phone back on the table and went across the hall to Mr. Harley’s room. He knocked, then said, “Jake and Jade should be back soon.” There was no reply, so he shrugged and walked away. He went through his bag and browsed his notes once more. Things had hardly changed. It still bore a striking resemblance to a wild goose chase. The clues he had from weeks ago were now obsolete pages that he tore out and put in his pocket to throw away later. What was real now? The possibility of Dave being in Bertern. Black carapaces most likely working for Cal. Dave was most likely being kept where he couldn’t escape or communicate. Underground bunker? Abandoned prison? He’d have to research locations in Bertern, see what was possible. 

Was Cal as powerful in Eurorus as in Freeka? Probably not. The troll population would make that impossible. Cal was just as cautious of the PA as they were. More so if he had helped in their dirty work before running away. In which case, the association the Striders had to put Dave in more danger than ever before. Escaping death would piss any reaper off. And the highblood trolls, the Condesce herself, were all gruesome reapers, bringing death with every step they took. 

He had to get Dave before the Grand Highblood did. Or Dualscar. Or the Condesce. 

Someone knocked on the door as Dirk tore out the last page in his notebook. It all seemed a little useless. Red herrings. Sorry Greyson. “Jake?” Dirk asked.

Jake unlocked the door and came in. Jade was behind him, unlocking her own door with a visible frown on her face. “Hey! Hope that wasn’t too long, we got here as fast as we could.” 

Dirk grinned at the sight of Jake, perfectly safe. “No, you guys were fine. I was just gathering my thoughts.” Dirk grabbed a pen from the desk and wrote his thoughts about Bertern on one of the few pages in his notebook. 

Jake walked over and sat behind Dirk on the bed. He wrapped his arms around him and said, “What did you find out?” 

Dirk shivered from the feel of Jake’s breath on his neck, and replied, “Not much. Cal isn’t in Lethix anymore. My best guess is he’s constantly on the run. But he might be settled down in Germain. There’s a small town called Bertern. We should head there soon.”

“I don’t know if Grandpa would want to leave so soon. He still has his own business here. Can White Queen help you search?” 

There was no hint of distaste in his words, but Dirk was sure he caught a glimpse of a frown. “She’d be more than happy to, but I have to be the one to find them. I don’t know what condition Dave is in, and Cal and I have unfinished business.”

“Of course. I understand.” Jake sighed and rubbed his head against Dirk’s shoulder. “We need to talk when we get home.”

Fuck. “Alright. About what?”

“About what happened before you found your way back to Genesis City.”

“That was the first thing I told you,” Dirk said, giving Jake a concerned look. 

“Not the full story, love.” Fuck.

Jake wasn’t dumb. Foolish, and childish, and naive, yes. But he knew when a story had too many holes in it. How exactly did he get back? Who helped him? Where did he go? Why hadn’t he contacted anyone earlier? He swallowed and said, “Okay. Alright.”

Jake smiled and leaned in to kiss him, but was interrupted by a high pitched scream. They shared a puzzled look and Dirk muttered, “Should we check it out?”

“It sounded like-”

“Jake! Help! Oh god!” came the horrified response from across the hall. 

“Jade?” they said in unison. Jake leapt to his feet to the room next door, with Dirk following on his heels. “I’m here!” Jake called, banging his fists on the door. He jiggled the doorknob, which was still locked, and put his ear to the door. “I think she’s hyperventilating!”

“Stand back,” Dirk said. Jake stepped aside, and Dirk kicked the door with all of his strength, right under the knob. The wood splintered and he shoved the door open. Paying no mind to the damage, Jake ran in and started calling Jade’s name. He pulled a pistol from the holster hidden beneath his jacket and held it in front of him. 

Dirk examined the surrounding area. The living room was untouched, with the exception of the damage done to the door. The kitchen area was empty. “Fuck!”

“Jake?”

“Fucking shit! Jade?”

“Who did this?” 

Someone retched, and Dirk felt the strong urge to avoid checking the bedroom.

He was making a habit of ignoring his basic instincts.

“Guys?” Jake bolted past him into the living room, some vomit on his chin. He dry heaved a few times, curling into the fetal position. He moaned, and the beginning of tears formed on his lashes. Dirk couldn’t take his eyes off of Jake, he couldn’t move to comfort him. 

Dirk closed his eyes and clenched his hands into tight fists to settle his nerves. “Jade?” he asked in as steady of a voice that he could manage. 

“I’m here!” she said, a panicked tone lacing her words. Dirk cautiously stepped into the room. 

Grandpa Harley was lying on his bed. It looked as though he had been thrown onto the bed after some sort of struggle.The nightstand next to him was flipped over. The sheets were mussed and hanging over the edge of the bed. A painting was broken, another lying on the ground.

The stench of blood was overpowering and,faced with the combination of that and vomit, Dirk had to hold in the contents of his stomach. His throat was cut open, covered in congealed blood. Jade was glued to the ground, her eyes screwed shut. Dirk gently grabbed her arm and led her away. He went to close the door, but couldn’t manage to focus on anything other than the dead old man. He covered him with a sheet from the closet before he joined the cousins.

 

“So… What should we do?” Dirk asked. He had migrated Jake and Jade to his room and brewed some tea, which they both had a cup of. Jade was staring into her tea. Jake was sipping it every five seconds, visibly shaking, bumping his leg up and down.

“Police?” Jake asked, slipping his glasses off to rub the bridge of his nose.

“It’d get too messy,” Jade muttered. She pushed some hair out of her face and looked to Dirk and Jake. “We’d be sent back to Skaia without Dave. We might unleash a legal search for Dave, which would piss Cal off.”

Before Jake could object, Dirk said, “She’s right. That’s why we’re trying to think of something better.”

Jake resumed shaking, and Dirk got up to wrap a blanket around him. As for him, Dirk was drawing connections between Cal and the black carapace that followed him. It wasn’t safe for them, but they weren’t in the financial position to travel anymore. 

“You two should leave,” Jade said. It took a few moments for what she said to register for Jake, who stopped shaking and gave her an incredulous stare. 

“What?”

“Leave. I’ll give you some money to travel. I’ll try and hack into the cameras, see if I can tamper with the footage and get you guys out of it. I’ll probably need Roxy’s help, or Sollux’s. Haven’t gotten that far yet. But the story is, we landed in Lethix and you two left early in the morning to go wherever you plan. I found him. Okay?”

Dirk nodded. “I’ll pack the bags.”

Jake blinked a few times, then said, “I’m sorry. I’m in shock, probably. Are you suggesting we run?”

“Yes,” Dirk said. “Because we’re fucked.” 

Jade moved towards him and rubbed his arm. “We’d get in so much legal trouble! And we can’t just leave Jade behind! Someone just murdered her grandfather!” Jake said.

“I have a shotgun and a hunting rifle with me,” Jade muttered, an exasperated look etched on her face. 

“Once we’re in Skaia again, there will be little any authorities could do about us. That’s the one positive of having a country with atrocious foreign affairs,” Dirk shrugged. “Think you could keep cops from suspecting you for a month?”

Jade thought for a moment, then said, “It depends on how much Roxy can help.”

Dirk grinned, the closest thing to a cocky smile he could do under the circumstances, and sad, “Roxy will do just fine.”

Jake still hadn’t moved from the chair. “Are you okay?” Jade asked. When he didn’t respond, she looked to Dirk. “Do you think he should stay with me?”

Whether or not Dirk thought Jake was in the proper mental state to accompany him on the search for Dave, it didn’t matter. Jake said, “I’m going with you, Dirk. You won’t make it alone.”

“Okay.” Protesting was useless. “Let’s go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This'll be it for a while. I have to focus on other things, so I might be back in a few days with more chapters. Please be patient. But anyway, thanks for reading! It really does mean a lot to me, and I hope you enjoyed. Until next time~


	16. Chapter 15: The Last Flashback

It was useless. So, so useless. 

Greyson had driven Dirk to every suburban community across Germain. They went door to door like hypocritical preachers, or maybe travelling salesmen. Hello! Pleasure to speak with you today! Would you like to purchase one of our lovely second hand items? All it costs is information on the whereabouts of this man. Oh, you have none? Nevermind then.

Greyson would stand to the side as Dirk spoke in mangled sentence structures he hadn’t practiced in years. Some turned them away immediately, which at least wasted less time than the forced kindness and useless leads other conversations brought. “A blond young man? Yes, I think I’ve seen someone like that pass by.” Perfect, until they said he was too short, too large, too loud, too anything not Dave.

“Should I buy plane tickets for your ride home?” Greyson asked after a particularly brutal day. 

“Don’t joke.” 

“I’m not joking. And I already bought plane tickets. Day after tomorrow, I’ll drop you off. You should be able to call someone to pick you up at the Genesis City Airport.” Dirk bit back a retort. “They deserve to have one of their friends back. And I’ll stay out here, keep you updated on the search.”

“Fine.”

Greyson spared him a concerned glance. “Alright. Glad we got that sorted out.” Awkward silence surrounded them for the duration of the ride to their hotel. Dirk didn’t look at Greyson. Greyson focused on the road. The landscape of sporadic trees and small, cottage-like homes faded into a cemented jungle, with metallic builders piercing the permanently gray sky. They had hopped from city to city during their search. The next stop would be Bertern, where the airport was only half an hour away.

Wordlessly, they packed everything in their room and Greyson brought the luggage to the car. Dirk handled all transactions, and had noticed that his Germish had improved marginally. Back on the road for about half an hour, Dirk finally asked what was weighing on his mind. “How are you dealing with losing Leo?” Greyson shrugged. “I just wanted to ask. I don’t know how to deal with anything.” 

“First truth of adulthood,” Greyson sighed. “You realize you actually don’t know how to deal with anything at any point.” That was it for a few minutes, and Dirk would’ve been happy to keep it at that, but Greyson said, “Do you think of Darry a lot?”

“I guess.”

“It’s a yes or no question.”

“Yes, then. It was weird, alright? He wasn’t affectionate. I guess we were close, but I think he was closer to Dave. Or maybe me and Dave were the closest. Maybe none of us were close, and I’m doing this out of loyalty.”

Greyson pursed his lips and said, “Describe him a bit.”

“He was strong.” That was always the best way to start. Raising two kids at eighteen? You had to be strong. “He protected us from the beginning. Put up with a lot of shit. Always looked after Dave.”

“Why not you?”

“Dave was a bit older than a toddler when Bro got custody over us. He needed the attention and love. I was close to middle school, so I was content to keep to myself.”

“Never lonely?”

“I suppose I was. But not entirely. I wasn’t surrounded by people, but I had my friends. Roxy always came for a visit. Jane and Jake were always talking to me. It was nice. It is nice.”

“What do you think of your brother. Not descriptions, not how he watched over you and Dave. How do you feel?”

Dirk had to think about that. The descriptions were easy. It was simpler to copy and paste words from a dictionary to a person than to attach your own feelings. There was love, of course. Not the love he felt for Jake, which burned with uncertainty and the feeling of adventure. Not the same love he felt for Dave, which was protective to a fault and utterly painful by now. 

It was… “Respect.” Greyson gave him a look that prompted him to go on. “It’s like how I feel about my parents. I don’t know them, and I never will, but I still love them. That’s how it is for Bro.”

“But you knew him.”

“I know,” Dirk said. “I did.” Greyson gave the slightest of shrugs, which did not go unnoticed by Dirk. “What?”

“Cal gave all of the bodyguards in depth backgrounds of you and your brothers. Not one of Cal himself, oddly enough, but it was enlightening.” He didn’t wait for Dirk to question this before launching into what he had been building up to. “Your brother wasn’t the person you thought he was.”

Dirk scowled. “What are you trying to say?”

“I’m trying to say that you should talk to Dave when you see him again.” Greyson pulled into a gas station and looked at him. “You can get a snack or something, if you want.” Dirk shook his head. “Back to being silent all the time?”

“It’s a shame you started talking more,” Dirk replied, a little surprised (and, he would admit, a little proud) that it had slipped out before he thought about it. If this offended Greyson, he did a good job of hiding it, slipping into his usual expressionless face for daily business. Dirk didn’t ponder his words. Even to let his mind drift to what he had meant induced nausea or the beginnings of a headache. He ignored it. 

The rest of the drive passed by painstakingly slow, and the landscape wasn’t particularly interesting. Greyson offered control of the radio, which Dirk denied, not out of spite, but general distaste for the odd Eurorus style music. 

Bertern was very small. They entered the town on the main street, and if Dirk stood on his toes he could see both ends of the town. They checked into a dingy motel, the only one that appeared to be in the town. “What happened to the suburban search?”

“We couldn’t find him anywhere upper class,” Greyson explained. ‘Rural areas are mostly human, considering that humans make up the majority of farmers. We could ask around for Cal, show some pictures of him.”

“Sounds dangerous.”

“I did some research. Talked to White Queen. At the very least, we have miles of forest cover in the event of us needing an escape, and a few of her guys will be watching us.” A good plan. Yet anxiety was already running its cold, clammy hands up and down Dirk’s back. 

There were a few friendly trolls they spoke to first, but none could say they’d seen Cal. They all said the same thing afterwards. “It’s a small town, we all know each other.” Other residents repeated this. Dirk started saying before they got the chance, earning a confused and sometimes offended look.

The first day proved as fruitless as any other. Dirk called White Queen and asked her to scour any sources she could find that might relate to Cal. She was more than a little annoyed, this being at least the tenth time Dirk asked this of her, but she sent him a message after two hours saying she had found nothing. 

He tried to stay awake, looking through local news reports for anything, but eventually passed out. He woke up in bed, and glared at Greyson for the rest of the day.

They began with asking more people. A few local white carapaces were happy to help, but quick to admit they knew nothing. Black carapaces and whatever reptilian locals there were all acted similarly. Before he knew it, they were stopping for dinner at one of the few fast food chains. “I’m glad McRoyal’s still exists,” Greyson said. 

“Capitalism can conquer any amount of time if the product is good enough.” Dirk looked at his burger and frowned. “Or induces enough dietary problems.”

Greyson chuckled. “Moderation.”

Dirk took a bite and faked a gag. “That’s it. There goes my heart. Veins coated in fat are imminent in my future.”

“You’re a teenager, you’re supposed to love this crap.”

“I’m an adult,” Dirk said, pointing at Greyson with the hand not holding a half-eaten burger. Greyson did a trademark shrug and smile, and Dirk was reminded of Jake. Jake with neater hair and less brilliant green eyes, a bit shorter and less boisterous. 

A group of black carapaces walked in, speaking in Germish about something that they kept laughing over. It wasn’t suspicious. They acted like the local teenagers, dressed in the similar baggy pants and whatnot (Eurorus was often teased for being a decade behind in fashion). 

And yet, Dirk felt on edge. “We should get going. See if we can search at all before I have to leave.” Greyson nodded with a slight frown. Dirk threw everything out and, as they walked towards the exit, one of the carapaces lifted a glock from his pocket and shot it in the air. He shouted something in Germish about nobody moving. 

“Translate for me here,” Greyson whispered to Dirk as the carapaces launched into a rapid fire Germish explanation, pointing to Greyson and Dirk. He tried to focus on their words but it was too fast, too much, and he only caught the most basic terms. 

One of the carapaces walked to them, a short, scarred looking fucker, and said in accented English, “Dirk Strider.” Dirk glared at him and he continued. “Master Cal has been looking for you for quite some time now. You two’ll be coming with us. Boys?” His lackeys grabbed Dirk and Greyson, all the while keeping their own guns pointed at them. Dirk tried to remain calm, his mind racing to think of ways he could possibly escape from the carapaces or, if it came to it Cal. He looked over at Greyson and was met with a stoic stare.

The carapaces walked them outside, and then pushed Dirk into the back of a small car. The scarred one sat in the driver’s seat, and the other three pushed Greyson in next to Dirk. That’s when he acted. 

Greyson swung his head back and hit the tallest carapace in the nose with a resounding crack. As the other three carapaces stood in shock, he pulled free and kicked the smallest carapace in the back. He fell onto the ground and scrambled back to his feet as Greyson attacked the other carapace. The scarred one leapt out of the car and hopped over the hood of the car. Greyson leaned out of the way of a punch and grabbed the carapace’s arm. Then he kicked hard into his stomach, swinging the carapace into the one with the scar. “Get out!” he yelled, and Dirk fumbled with the door. 

Greyson motioned for him to run in the direction of the motel, but Dirk ignored him and instead joined the fight, taking on the smallest and tallest carapaces. Without a sword, he was put at a disadvantage. All of the carapaces were armed, and if it wasn’t for Greyson’s agility, they would’ve had the chance to take out their guns. Dirk kicked the smallest carapace onto the floor and snatched a glock from his belt, changing the mood immediately. All of the carapaces froze.

“Hey, you wouldn’t want to do that,” the scarred carapace said. He reached into his jacket and Dirk pulled the trigger. The bullet went clean through his arm, bright red blood spattering onto the road behind him.

“Anyone else?” he asked,waving at Greyson to get behind him. 

The scarred carapace was cursing, spit flying out of his mouth, face red with rage. He looked to the average height one and nodded, shaking slightly from the pain.

Greyson reacted before Dirk knew what was happening. He pushed Dirk out of the way with the word “Run,” on his lips, and a few loud bangs were the only warning given that Greyson had been shot.

Run.

Legs pumping, adrenaline coursing through him so he was a shaking mess, zigzagging through trees and alleys and anything he could. Their screams were clear at first, but the blood pumping in his ears muffled any sounds. 

They were close though. Closer. And they reached out. Cold, sharp hands. And then they were gone, and a car drove next to him, White Queen in the back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's another chapter! Finally! Throughout the rest of the day I hope to have two more chapters up. Let's see how that goes. Anyway, thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! Until next time~


	17. Chapter 16: Coming Clean

After they landed at the airport, Dirk and Jake walked to Bertern, just as planned. “Why can’t we rent a car?” he had asked. “We have plenty of cash.”

“It’s not safe anymore,” Dirk replied. The misfortune that had fallen on them was a convenient excuse. Jake and Jade went along unquestioningly, thinking back to Grandpa Harley, while Dirk had the images of Greyson’s death flitting in and out of his mind. So they trekked through the forested area, occasionally stopping to check the directions.

About half a mile away from the town, they stopped and set up camp. With a few supplies from the airport (blankets mostly, and two sleeping bags) and some sticks, Jake was able to set up a decent tent. This had also been deliberate, though a little bit harder to explain. “There aren’t a lot of places to stay in Bertern. If Cal finds out we’re after him, those will be the first places he checks.”

Dirk had called White Queen as soon as they were settled. He asked for information on Dave and information on Damara. “A friend of yours?” she asked.

“Kind of,” he admitted. “In the video I sent you, there was a glance of a female troll. Redblood, ram horns, speaks Alternian. We think she might be with Cal too.”

“Nobody has seen Dave yet, but I’ll check with them again about Damara. We did find out where Cal may be.”

“Really?”

“Yes, I researched the police reports from the day Greyson died. The four carapaces have been reported going in and out of a barn repeatedly. The address is 45 Valer Drive.”

“We’ll stop by first thing tonight.”

“I’ll send someone with you. Be careful.”

Dirk hung up and turned to an expectant Jake. “I think I know where Cal is.” He borrowed Jake’s phone and pulled up a map of an area. Zooming in on 45 Valer Drive, he said, “White Queen did some digging. We’re gonna drop by tonight with someone who works with her.”

“That’s amazing! How did she find him?”

“Tracked the guy who chased us in Lethix. Led her straight to Cal.” He turned away, not wanting to give away that he was lying. A few seconds passed where Dirk felt Jake’s trust dwindle.

Then Jake said, “Alright. Should I go into town? Get us food, black clothes, maybe a flashlight or two? It probably wouldn’t be safe for you to go out in public.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right. I’ll stay here and write up some plans, see if I can find some pictures of the barn.”

“Why wouldn’t it be safe, Dirk?” Jake asked, suspicious. 

“Because Cal is looking for me?” he replied, nervous and confused. 

“What about Greyson?” 

“What?”

Jake sat beside him. He didn’t look angry. Just sad. And disappointed. “A week ago, I think, I heard you mutter his name in your sleep. So I did my own research. It was rough, but I found some stuff. Mostly articles. There was an obituary for Greyson Small, who was shot by four carapaces in Bertern. That was all over.” Dirk nodded, too scared to interrupt him. The strict ban on weapons in most of Eurorus made any gun violence a rare occurrence, and one that brought much discussion.

“Right, well, the articles. They didn’t have much to go on. The Small family lived somewhere in Freeka, so there wasn’t much about the family or mourning. But there was a police investigation. Greyson’s last job was working as a bodyguard for a Freekan aristocrat who goes by the name Lil’ Cal. Right around the time you were with him.” Dirk opened his mouth to say something in defense, but Jake said, “I’m not finished. Four carapaces were arrested fleeing the scene of the crime. They all tried to place the blame on a blond teenager who was reportedly seen with Greyson.”

“What?” was all Dirk could get out.

“You’re not a fugitive. The four carapaces were all arrested. The evidence overwhelmingly supported that they were the murderers.”

“Oh.” A weight was lifted off of Dirk’s chest, but it was useless. It felt like removing one feather out of the twenty pounds worth currently resting on him. “That’s good.”

“Yes, it is. But I still need to hear the truth from you. What happened?”

And, after looking at everything that wasn’t Jake, and coughing a few times, and rubbing his shoulders and removing his glasses to clean them a few times to many, Dirk told him. “The Protectors of Alternia took over Alustus. On that day, they attacked Cal’s manor. He had hired bodyguards before then from riots over water. The bodyguards escorted all of the slaves and Dave to the safe room that led to Lethix. I wanted to save Bro. But by the time I found him, he was fighting the Grand Highblood and died saving me.” 

“Right,” Jake said, in a soft tone. “But what happened after?”

“I blacked out. Concussion maybe, or grief. I’m not sure. But Greyson, he was Dave’s personal bodyguard, found me and got me out of there. We travelled around Freeka, searching for clues on where Dave was. We wound up in Lethix and eventually found White Queen.”

“Why would she help you?” Jake asked, puzzled.

“Right. She was the main slave at Cal’s house, and comes from a line of Prospitian royals. That’s why she’s been able to help us out. So, we found her and she told us that Dave stayed at the border to wait for me. He was left with a slave and found by Cal. They were somewhere in Germain.”

“So you two went there? And didn’t come across a place to repair Hal?”

Dirk sighed. “Not exactly. Hal was broken, but Greyson had a phone. And always offered to let me tell everyone that I was safe.”

“But you didn’t.”

“No, I didn’t.” Jake looked far past angry. He looked utterly despondent. The beginnings of tears were forming in his eyes. “It wasn’t because of you. I just didn’t want anyone getting involved.” Well, that was the easiest explanation. Everyone understood that one, right? It was easier than muddling through the turmoil of emotions that made him avoid all of his loved ones.

“Well, that didn’t work. Just finish the story.”

“We travelled across Germain. And I do mean everywhere. Greyson set up my flight home and promised to continue looking for Dave. And then…”

“And then you found yourselves in Bertern,” Jake finished. Dirk nodded. “Thank you.”

“For?”

“For being honest. Eventually. And I am definitely pissed off at you, but how about we just take this one step at a time. We’ll look for Dave tonight.”

“Yeah.” Jake leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “Be safe going out.”

Jake smiled a little, and said, “Always. And stay safe here.”

Dirk made a feeble attempt at a smile back. But the similarities between Jake and Greyson wouldn’t leave him alone, and Greyson’s death kept replaying in his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ay I'm on time!! Let's see if I can get the next chapter out today, too! I hope you enjoyed this one, and thank you so so so much for reading this. Each view really pushes me to make this better. Until next time~


	18. Chapter 17: The Knight of Time

The female carapace stuck out her hand and said, “Peregrine Mendicant, at your service.” She smiled, and Dirk couldn’t help but be impressed. She looked strong, and a little threatening with a black, curved sword on her back. “I already know who you two are. My queen has told me you already have a plan?” Jake brought out the maps and Dirk guided her through their plan. Simple, but safe. 

At seven pm, they walked to the barn (it was unanimously agreed that a car wouldn’t be discreet enough). Peregrine Mendicant went before them, scouting the area for any guards. When she came back with news that there were none, all three of them approached. 

The barn was empty, with the exception of a few stacks of hay and rusted equipment. “How long has this place been abandoned?” Dirk asked. His companions shrugged back, and they split up. Dirk looked up at the rafters, checking for any lever or something of use. He found a ladder and climbed up. The rafters looked old and weak, and he had to be cautious about each step. “How you guys doing down there?” he called down when he found nothing.

“Not yet,” Peregrine Mendicant replied, scanning the walls for anything out of the ordinary.

“Guys! I got something!” Jake exclaimed. He had brushed some of the hay off the floor to reveal a metal hatch. Dirk made his way to the rafter over the hatch. “It’s got a lock on it.”

Peregrine Mendicant tried breaking the lock with her sword, but had no luck. “Any bright ideas?” she asked. 

“We can use some of the broken equipment and rope,” Dirk said. He pointed to a metal pipe. “Stick the through through the part where the lock connects. Jake, tie that connects it to one of the longer pieces of rope, then throw the rope up to me. Then we just have to tie something heavy to the other end.”

They set to work. Jake did just as instructed, and Peregrine Mendicant began picking up some larger pieces of equipment.. She picked up and engine and, struggling under its weight, brought it to under Dirk. He let some of the rope down to them and Jake tied the rope around it. Then she let it go.

Nothing happened.

“We could get more stuff?” Jake said, glancing at Dirk. 

Dirk frowned. “I’ve got an idea.” He got down on his knees and grabbed the rope. Then he swung off and climbed down, stopping when his feet touched the engine. The hatch looked unmoved. Then he jumped up and landed on the engine. He did this again, each time trying to get higher. Then he climbed up on the rope, farther than he could reach by jumping, and let himself fall on the engine. There was a snap, and Dirk fell flat on the ground with a hard thud. 

Jake and Peregrine Mendicant, who were watching the entire time, were suppressing laughter. “You okay, love?” Jake asked, snorting slightly. 

Dirk groaned. “I’m good.” 

As he got up, they heard a car door slam outside. “Did you hear something?” they heard someone say outside. Dirk and Jake leapt behind some of the haystacks, covering themselves in the stuff for better cover. Peregrine Mendicant followed suit after she cut the knot and threw the pipe to the side. 

Two people, one salamander and one human, walked in. “Could’ve just been rats,” the human said, thin, pale, with stringy brown hair.

“Had to have been huge fuckin’ rats,” the salamander replied, tall for a salamander, with deep orange skin.

“Fine, cats or something. How often do you think this place gets maintenance?” They made their way to the hatch, and the human took a key out of his pocket. Dirk motioned for the others to follow, and he tiptoed up to the pair.

The salamander twitched, and they stopped. He took a deep breath and hummed in thought. “What’s the matter?” his companion asked. 

“I thought I smelled something. Fuckin’ hay and allergies though.” He shrugged, but turned around regardless, and Dirk lunged at him. The human turned and took a gun out of his pocket, but Jake was faster and shot his arm. He cursed and screamed, but Jake was able to knock him out. Dirk wrestled with the carapace who was struggling to reach for his own pocket. Dirk punched him in the face, but the carapace kneed him in the stomach. With a burst of strength, Dirk was pushed aside, the salamander had a knife to his throat. 

“Who the fuck are you,” the salamander growled, pressing his knife into Dirk’s neck.

“Let him go,” Peregrine Mendicant said. The salamander turned to see the knife pointed at his face. He gulped and she grinned. “Yeah, maybe you should get off him.

Dirk got up and snatched the knife from the salamander. “Guys, I swear, anything you want and it’s done,” he nervously chuckled.

Dirk and PM looked too each other and grinned. “Sorry, but we have what we want.” She nodded to Dirk, who put the salamander in a sleeper hold. In a few seconds, he was out cold. 

Jake had already tied up the human, and used some of the human’s torn sleeve to gag him and wrap the wound. He tied and gagged the salamander, then held up the key with a smile. “Let’s carry on, then!” He unlocked the hatch and Dirk helped him lift it up. 

There was a metal staircase, dimly lit by cheap lights. Jake led the way and PM took the rear as they waked down. “Its some sort of underground bunker,” Dirk said, looking at the metal plated walls. They continued on until they came to two hallways.

“How extensive do you think it is?” Jake asked. “I mean, I wouldn’t expect it to just be one passage.”

“We could split up, and meet back in fifteen,” PM suggested. We all have a weapon now, and we still have the element of surprise working for us.” 

“Alright. You two go right, I’ll go left. Fifteen minutes.” They separated, and Dirk examined everything he passed. For a while, the hallway was empty, and he stopped in fear of a footstep or any other suspicious sound. The short, quick breaths he took seemed amplified, and he thought at any moment someone would trap him and take him to Cal. 

The hallway came to a rounded out room, with doors along the walls. There were eight, Dirk counted. None of the doorknobs had locks, but there were latches on the outside. The first one was unlocked, and, when he checked it out with his knife in hand, empty except for a neatly made bed, a toilet and sink, and a desk.

The second room was the same. 

The third held a sleeping… What the fuck was that? It was green, with bright red cheeks. Out of suspicion, Dirk closed the door. Then the creature’s eyes snapped open. “Who are you?” he shouted. 

Fuck. Dirk closed the door and made his knife visible. “I’m Dirk Strider. I’m looking for my brother, Dave.”

“Are you going to let me out?” he said, still loud. Huh, maybe he wasn’t shouting. Maybe he just had no volume control. 

“That depends,” Dirk said. “Why are you in here?”

“That’s none of your business!” he shouted. 

“Well, good luck finding your own way out,” Dirk shrugged.

“No, wait!” he said. “My name’s Caliborn. And if you get me out, I’ll tell you everything.”

Dirk eyed him skeptically. He gave a pleading look that ended up looking terrifying because of his protruding fangs, but Dirk said, “Alright. C’mon.” Caliborn grinned (horrifying) and followed Dirk. He tried the fourth door, which was locked, and held a chained up human woman. She didn’t look like she was breathing.

“Do you know why Cal is keeping people here?” Dirk asked. 

“I know that lady probably disobeyed a direct order. I’m here under special circumstances,” Caliborn explained. “Isn’t it obvious this is a prison?”

“This section? Yeah.” The fifth door was unlocked and empty.

“What about your brother? Why’s he here?”

“We knew Cal before this,” Dirk said. 

Caliborn waite as they checked the sixth room, locked containing a sleeping turtle. Then he said, “What? Aren’t you a hero? Not gonna save them?”

“I’m no hero,” Dirk replied. “And I’m only helping you because you woke up.” Caliborn stuck his tongue out and Dirk rolled his eyes. “How old are you? Twelve?”

“Nineteen!” Seventh door, empty. Dirk looked at him. “What?”

“You don’t look it. Or act like it.” They opened the eighth door. 

“Go away,” he moaned. “Just leave me alone.” He was wrapped under his blanket, and as Dirk’s eyes travelled across the room he saw a pair of sunglasses on the desk, a few changes of red clothes and jeans, and headphones.

“Dave.” After all this time.

“Dirk?” The blankets moved and Dave rose from beneath them, tousled blond hair and tired eyes, but still entirely Dave.

“Hey.”

“Been a while.”

“Yeah.”

Caliborn looked between them and said, “This is the most retarded thing I’ve ever seen.”

Dave glared at him and asked, “Who’s this?”

“Caliborn,” Dirk sighed. “It’s a very long story. But hurry it up, we’re getting out of here.”

As they walked back to the entrance, Dave asked, “Are you alone?”

“No, Jake’s here, and then Wh- er, Abby sent someone to help us. They should be meeting back in, uh, Hal?” Hal lit up and displayed the time. “Five minutes.”

“Damn. How are we getting back to Skaia?”

“Haven’t quite figured that out yet but we’re getting there.”

Two gunshots echoed through the halls. “Could be Jake,” Dave offered, noticing the nervous look on Dirk’s face.

“I should check it out. You two get out of here and climb up the rafters. Be quiet. Wait for me to come back. Or Jake. Or a white carapace.”

“No way,” Dave said. “You going back to do something stupid is what landed us here in the first place. Leave the kid behind.”

“Fucking nineteen years old and this is what I get,” Caliborn scowled.

“Cal is dangerous!”

“Don’t you think I know that?” Dave asked. Without waiting for a response, he ran down the right hallway. Dirk followed without a second thought.

“Wait for me!” Caliborn screeched.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I finished the story. Expect clusters of updates until the story is over. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thanks for reading. And hopefully I'll be here tomorrow (realistically, I'll be here in a few days). Until next time~


	19. Chapter 18: The Night of Revenge

Please be safe, Jake. That was the only thought that was running through Dirk’s mind. Dave was slower now, being captive for so long, and Dirk had to lag behind with him. The hallway branched into two more. “Fuck,” Dirk muttered.

“Right. I think,” Dave said, leading them in that direction. They came to a door that was locked from the inside. Dirk tried kicking it open, but it didn’t work.

“What now?” he asked. 

“Lemme try!” Caliborn said. He placed his hands on the door and gripped it, his sharp nails digging in. Then, with a grunt, he tore the door back. Dirk and Dave stared at him. “What?”

“Nothing,” Dirk said, shaking his head and stepping through the doorway. He looked around. It was familiar. Paintings decorated the walls, expensive rugs were placed on the floor. There was plenty of furniture. The lights here were brighter. It was lavish. 

“Hiya Dirk!” Dirk turned to face the voice coming from the corner of the room.

“Cal.”

Cal broke into a fit of laughter. He was covered in blood, but not his own. “I knew you’d find your way back to me! Haha!” Dave had come to stand next to Dirk. He was shivering. “Your friends! I did them in! Can you believe it? They tried commanding me! Ha!” 

Dirk looked behind Cal and saw the two bodies lying behind him. PM had her sword sticking in her leg. And Jake, oh god, he was lying in a puddle of blood. His stomach rose and sank and he had to hold back vomit. “Let us leave, Cal.”

“Oh no, can’t do that! Do you know what dear old Darry said to me as I held his dying body? You know, he died, entirely your fault!” He spat that last part. “Told me to make sure you two were safe from those fucking trolls!” 

Dirk gripped his knife. “I don’t care. We’re going to leave, and I’m going to bring those two with me.”

Cal stuffed his hands into his pockets and grinned. He began to stroll towards them as he asked, “Oh really? Just you two?”

Dirk glanced back to the door. Caliborn was nowhere to be found. “Yeah. Just the two of us.”

Something whistled past Dirk’s ear. Cal’s arm was held straight out, pointing to Dirk. Dirk turned to look at the wall behind him. A knife was sticking out. He touched his ear. He now had a miniscule cut. “How about I take you two back to the rooms?”

PM shifted. Her movement caught Dirk’s eye, and he got the urge to stall. “What did you do, Cal?”

“Don’t you worry your pretty little head off about that, now,” he replied. PM was reaching into her pockets. 

“Dirk, we should listen to him,” Dave muttered. PM had a ring.

“Listen to your brother!” Cal laughed. 

A flash of green light interrupted them, and PM howled as she morphed into a grotesque creature. Feathery wings grew from her back, one of her arms shrunk and the hand disappeared, her round face became furry and pointed, much like a dog’s. Her sword disappeared and reappeared in her stomach. One of her eyes was scarred. She stood up slowly, and her blood dissolved in the green light. Cal’s eyes widened in terror. “No, no,” he murmured over and over.

She removed the sword in her stomach flapped her wings, bringing her directly in front of Cal. He was visibly shaking. “Take Jake and run,” she said, her voice seeming ten times louder than normal. Dirk motioned for Dave to get going, and he picked up Jake. Carrying him bridal style, he ran for the door. With one final look, he saw PM bring her sword to Cal’s head.

He couldn’t say Cal would be missed.

Jake was becoming dead weight, but still breathing. Dirk struggled to keep his pace. Blood was still oozing out of Jake’s shoulder. “Come on, baby, we can do this.” 

There was a flash, and PM was in front of him. Then she grabbed him, and after a second of crushing weight and nothingness, they were back at the camp. “I’ll be right back,” she said, disappearing and reappearing with Dave and four girls.

“Is he okay?” Dave asked.

“No, fuck, okay.” He took a deep breath. “PM, take him to wherever White Queen is, and make sure he gets medical treatment. Look out for him, please.” She nodded and took Jake into her arms before disappearing.

“What’s going on?” one of the girls asked, the only girl. They were all dressed in lacy clothes and see-through gauze. 

“Did… Did Cal have a fucking harem?” Dirk asked. 

Dave nodded. “I remembered weird shit always going down, so I went down the other hall and found them.” He nodded his head in the direction of a familiar troll. “Damara was there, but she’s too pissed to speak English.”

“Damara, I know you can speak English, and you know I can’t speak Alternian. So let’s just cooperate with each other and get back to Skaia.”

She rolled her eyes and said, “Fuck you.”

“See? Now I can understand your insults. Let’s just sleep for now. In the morning I’ll make some calls and get us home.” He turned to address the other three girls. “I’ll get you guys back to your families, too.”

The three girls nodded and huddled together. Damara scowled and slipped a cigarette from her bra. “Got a match?” 

“Outside,” Dirk said, tossing her a match. He sat down on his sleeping bag and sighed. Dave laid down beside him. 

“Thanks,” Dave said.

“No problem,” Dirk replied. “Just glad to have you back and safe.”

“Yeah.” Dave chuckled. “Hey, uh, I love you man.”

“Yeah. I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, now that this story is officially finished, all that's left for me is to post it and start writing my next story. Hopefully I'll have two more chapters up today. I hope you enjoyed, and thank you so much for sticking with me and reading. Until next time~


	20. Chapter 19: Home Sweet Home

PM was waiting outside of the tent in the morning, send from WQ. She no longer looked like a monster. “Hey there,” she greeted when Dirk stepped out of the tent. “Wake everyone up, there’s a car parked at the nearest road, and there’s a private jet waiting to take you all back.”

Still groggy, he merely nodded and went through the motions of waking everyone up. Dave was a pain to wake up, which felt so utterly natural it was comforting, and Damara refused to cooperate, but the other three girls were quick to wake and tell him the countries they lived in. The human was from Lithex. One of the trolls from Jesven. The other was also from Skaia, but on the west coast as opposed to the east coast.

PM led them to the car and was compliant enough to explain the workings of the ring to Dave. “See, back when carapaces lived on Derse and Prospit, the royal families were each given two rings, one for the king and one for the queen. All of the rings granted the wearer omnipotent powers. They were passed down through the royal family. When the Derse monarchs stepped down, the rings were destroyed, and the Prospit rings were stored away. Still passed down though, and the royal family would often lend their powers to warriors.”

“That’s so fucking sick,” Dave replied. 

“Why not just wear it all the time? Become a god?” one of the trolls asked, a yellow blood. 

“If you wear it for too long, you start losing touch with yourself. Forget what it means to be mortal.” Then she added, “And we need to keep it locked up, or else it could get stolen.”

“I kinda wanna try it on,” Dave said.

“You can but it wouldn’t work. The carapace shell is plated, and can shift to accommodate to the changes.”

“That is so unbelievably fucking sick,” Dave gushed. Dirk couldn’t help but snicker at this. 

WQ had supplied them with a van. Everyone piled in and PM drove them a few miles away to a stretch of empty road, occupied only by a jet. “You flying us, too?” Dirk asked. 

PM laughed and said, “No, we tried that once and almost died. But you have a good pilot. Just relax and enjoy the flight.”

 

The first stop was in Jevsen, being the closest to Germain. The blueblood promised that she would find her family from there on out, and shared a tearful goodbye with the human and yellowblood. 

Then to Lethix, where they had to stop so the pilot could escort the human back. Another tearful goodbye. 

Then.

Then Genesis City. Without Jake, who was where WQ was. Wherever she was. They landed sooner than he expected. The familiar odor of homelessness and food and smog blended together like some bastardized welcome home gift. Damara tried to leave them as soon as they landed, but Dirk grabbed her arm. “I have my own place, bastard.” 

“It clearly wasn’t that safe,” Dirk retorted. “We’re going to Karkat’s place, and we’ll figure out where you can stay soon.

“Cunt fuck,” Damara muttered. 

“Does Karkat know we’re gonna be stopping by?” Dave asked.

“No, but he’ll be happy to have you back.” From the looks of it, it would be an hour walk to the Vantas household. Dave offered his sweatshirt to Damara, but she seemed to have no qualms about walking through the city half naked. 

“We have to figure out school and stuff for you,” Dirk said. “It wasn’t a huge deal for me, I explained some of it to my professors, but you’ve got a whole other thing coming for you.”

“Can we try and figure it out when I have somewhere to sleep? Where are you staying?” Dave asked.

“With the Harley’s. Which I’m going to have to rearrange now, fuck.” 

“Wait, why?”

“Mr. Harley is dead,” Dirk replied. “Shit, so much changed. I’ll get you up to speed later.”

Dave looked as though he was about to say something, but settled with shaking his head. Walking through the familiar streets of the city felt heavenly after weeks of travel. But the vibe of the city had changed. More trolls roamed the streets than anyone else. Humans all walked fast with their heads down. Many buildings had campaign posters hanging in their windows, proudly stating “Condesce. Make YOUR vote MATTER.”

“Yeah. Quite a bit changed,” Dave frowned. Damara took a moment to spit on each sign the passed. 

Approaching the Vantas household, Dirk almost felt embarrassed. He hardly had interaction with any of them, but it had become a meeting place of sorts. He glanced at Dave, who had a decent poker face on. “You’re gonna be fine,” Dirk murmured. Dave nodded and they knocked on the door.

Spades answered, took one look at them, and said, “Goddammit, I didn’t want more goddamn kids showing up at my fucking house. Fucking hell. Get lost.”

“Sir, you’ve met all of us,” Dirk said. 

He squinted. “Fuck. Sorry. Tell Karkat to quit inviting random people over. I’m sick of it. Hey brat!”

“Coming.” Dave swallowed as they heard footsteps. Dirk backed behind him, and pulled Damara to do the same. When Karkat laid eyes on Dave, his jaw dropped. Dirk couldn’t help but grin. “What the fuck?”

“‘Sup, Karkat?”

He looked to Dirk. “No seriously, what the fuck?”

“Told you guys I would find him.”

He looked back and forth between Dirk and Dave. Then he practically jumped into Dave’s arms. “You’re an asshole you’re such an asshole oh my fucking god I hate you so much you cunt sucking bitch I hope you die oh my god what the fuck happened.”

He noticed Dave’s face and, not wanting to put his brother through the embarrassment of seeing him cry, said, “Me and Damara will tell everyone to come over.” She glared at him but followed him to the kitchen, where she began to raid the cabinets for any food. Dirk listened as best he could to Dave and Karkat as he told everyone that Dave was safe and at the Vantas house. 

“I’m sorry.”

“I don’t blame you, dipshit.”

“I know. I just didn’t think that… Well, I didn’t think anything like that would happen.”

“Dirk told us. Well, most of it. But you don’t have to explain it until you’re ready.”

“Wow, that’s surprisingly nice of you.”

“Fuck off. Besides, we all have bigger problems than finding out what happened. The election is a few days away.”

“What’s even going on with that? We passed some posters on how way, since when was the Condesce the presumptive nominee?”

He heard Karkat sigh. “Like I said. Fuck ton of stuff to catch you up on.”

The door slammed open and Dirk peeked his head in. Aradia, Tavros, and Rufioh had all arrived together, along with Droog and Boxcars. “Where’s Damara?” Aradia asked frantically. Dave pointed to the kitchen and she ran in.

If Dirk’s reunion with Dave had been awkward, this one was straight up painful. Aradia looked like she wanted nothing more than to hug Damara. Damara had murder in her eyes. “I can leave,” Dirk said. 

“No, I will,” Damara said, and she walked out before anyone could protest.

“What happened?” Aradia asked.

“I’m not too sure,” he replied. Damara hadn’t left, but she was doing a good job of hiding from everyone. “Let’s herd everyone into the dining room. We’ll need to make room for everyone.”

“Hey, didn’t Jake go with you? Where’s he?”

“Still have to figure that out.” 

After ten minutes, everyone had arrived. Dave had been crushed with hugs and covered in kisses and tears, and was trying to keep a straight face despite the bright red blush on his face, but he was happier than anyone else. John had already offered to take Dave in, and Jade had been staying with the Lalondes. Roxy told Dirk they had more than enough room to help out Dirk and Jake, and he found himself agreeing. At this point, safety in numbers seemed necessary. 

“We should probably talk about what we do now,” Kankri said as everyone chatted. “In a few days the Condesce will become president. That’s pretty much a fact. From there on out, we only know a few things from Feferi and Cronus.”

Dirk looked around. He only just noticed that Eridan was missing. And Tavros refused to look at Feferi and Cronus. “The Condesce is going to tag all humans and classify them by their numbers. Then she’s going to input laws segregating trolls from other species.”

“Oh yeah, and there’s been discussion of putting all humans in designated reserves and camps. Once the ‘ape infestation’ is solved, they’ll move onto reptiles and salamanders, then carapaces, then lowbloods,” Cronus added. 

“How can we stop that?” Dave asked. “There’s like, thirty of us. That is an ancient organization.”

Sollux grinned. “That’s the thing. We’ve been spreading the word around with fake IP addresses and stuff, and we have a lot of followers. Worldwide, probably thirty thousand.”

“And, as I keep saying, that’s not nearly enough,” Horuss interrupted. “It doesn’t matter that, as far as supporters, we have around the same number. The PA has control of nations, armies.”

“There’s been rapid growth,” Sollux replied. “Soon we’ll have an overwhelming majority. We might inspire coup d'etats in many of those countries.” Horuss frowned but didn’t respond. 

“For now, we can have short term fixes,” Dirk said. “Aradia, Damara, Tavros, and Rufioh, you guys can stay here with Droog and Boxcars. Jake and I will be with the Lalondes. Dave and John will be bunking together. Safety in numbers. Always go out in groups.”

“We’ll have to get an idea of places everyone can stay just in case. I think the Lalondes have the biggest house, but the Serket’s is also a good option. My house would also be able to fit a few more people,” Kanaya offered. 

“We can write up some plans, just in case,” Karkat said. “And maybe we can have the meetings anywhere else? Slick is starting to get pissed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bam! Sorry, I've been having terrible writer's block so writing takes me three times longer than normal. I hope to have another chapter in a few hours. I hope you all enjoyed, and thank you so much for reading! Until next time~


	21. Chapter 20: Election Day

Dave had no qualms with moving in with John, and Dirk wasn’t about to argue. The Egbert family lived in one of the safest places of the city. The Lalonde household, being fucking huge, had an extra room for Jake and Dirk (Roxy generously pointed out the extra sheets in the closet, the bastard).

WQ contacted Dirk to tell him that Jake would be back the next day and, lo and behold, Jake was dropped off with a servant on their doorstep. He had no visible bandages, but looked paler than he had when Dirk left him. Dirk went to hug him but he lifted up his left hand. “What’s the matter?” Dirk asked.

“Shot in the shoulder.” He pulled down his shirt to reveal the bandages on his right shoulder and said, “All patched up now, of course, but I can’t really lift my arm. Or let you crush me.” He gave an almost shy smile.

Dirk was at a loss for a few moments before he recovered and said, “As long as you’re back.”

Jake was more than happy to give a gallant retelling of his meeting with Cal. “Peregrine Mendicant and I rushed in. We were expecting a load of gangsters, or a small militia, or anything, really. But it was just Cal. I asked where Dave was, he asked where Dirk was, and after he did nothing but cackle,” Dirk noticed the clear disgust on Jake’s face and guessed that Cal had done a bit more than cackle, “I shot him.”

“Did you miss?” Jade asked incredulously. There was rarely a time when either of them missed a shot. 

“No. I shot him a few times. He just took it. He was bleeding out quite a bit. But he didn’t die.”

“What the fuck?” Roxy asked. She turned to Dirk, who merely shrugged. Knowing Cal his entire life didn’t give him any explanations for anything he did.

“Gamzee’s the same way,” Jane said. “But Cal isn’t a troll. How does that work?”

“Who knows. But after I shot him, he took out a bunch of knives and started throwing them. PM was great with her sword and blocked all of them, and I just tried to stay on my feet and move around. After he ran out he disappeared and reappeared behind PM. He wrestled the sword from her and stabbed her in the leg. I think she passed out from the pain. He disappeared again and reappeared in front of me. I was ready to fight him hand to hand, but he moved as quick as lightning.”

“Him and Bro were both experts at their fighting style,” Dirk said. “Cal taught him everything he knew. It was like a bastardized version of ninjitsu fathered by devil worship and ancient troll magic.”

“Anyway,” Jake said, glaring at Dirk, “he got one of my pistols somehow and shot me in the shoulder, then he hit me over the head with it. I woke up a day later in an empty room with a few carapaces tending to me. But what happened in Lithex?” 

Jade’s retelling was more to the point, and from Roxy’s, Rose’s, and Jane’s reactions, Dirk guesses this wasn’t her first time going over it. The authorities who arrived at the scene were quick to assume it had been a robbery gone wrong. After they investigated Jade and found she had multiple eyewitnesses to prove she was out in public during the time of the murder with her cousin and cousin’s boyfriend, the theory was someone tapped in the hotel security and broke in, came across Mr. Harley and killed him. The broken door was a curious matter that led them to believe it was a two man operation. One had been the smarter of the two who planned it out and hacked security, while the other was larger and inexperienced.

“The only reason they didn’t try to find you two was because they didn’t want to deal with the ‘troll brutes’ up north.”

Jade had done her best to clear out their stuff from the house. Mrs. Lalonde had agreed to take temporary custody of her, and Jake promised he’d try to become her legal guardian. Her grandfather’s death was taking an obvious toll on her. Every few days, she and Rose would go to hang out with John and Dave, and she came back looking happier than usual. Then she’d sink back into sadness, and the only one she’d talk to was Beq.

Jane was now staying permanently with the Lalondes. “What, are you and Roxy dating or something?” Dirk joked. When Jane only shrugged, he coughed and almost choked on his water. 

Getting Dave back into school was hell, but they did it with a combined excuse of death in the family and health problems. After missing a month and a half of school, he had to spend his free time doing homework and catching up on notes. Junior year was rough. Dirk also started attending college again, and for once was challenged with a shit ton of notes and projects and assignments. 

Life seemed normal. A change in scenery from their apartment, but Dirk could talk to Dave whenever he wanted. Of course, there was the matter of precautions they took whenever leaving the house. They left the house in groups of three. The lowbloods were starting to go everywhere together, and the results were amusing. Damara tried to flash everyone they saw, Sollux had to hold Mituna’s hand, Karkat had a meltdown before and after leaving the house from the sheer stupidity of it, and Tavros and Rufioh did their best to not hit their friends with their horns.

Karkat’s solution was to have a designated highblood for each lowblood, but since Eridan still refused to talk to them and it would be too suspicious for Feferi, Cronus, and the Makara’s to help, his plan was tossed. Soon they just decided to only go out when it was necessary to do so. Outside of school and the occasional trip for groceries, they were all stuck inside to entertain themselves.

Social media was blowing up with the election. The majority was rooting for the Condesce. Now that the government puppet was out of the way and the general populace came to the conclusion that being a moron without a filter did not equate to being brave and speaking your mind, there was no doubt as to who would be elected. The Condesce had declared Orphaner Dualscar as her vice president, an odd choice due to his lack of political background and his standoffish manner. But it didn’t change her success in recent polls. 

Election day came before anyone knew it. After school ended, they locked themselves. The trolls also came, and Calliope wound up waiting with them. “Did anyone of age actually vote?” she asked. 

“I may not want the Condesce in office, but I feel like our other option of Fucky McGee would end in nuclear annihilation,” Meenah replied.

“Where’s Ff?” Sollux asked, holding onto Aradia’s hand. 

“With the PA. So is Cronus, the Makara boys, and the Zahhaks.”

“Why can’t you go?” asked Dave.

“I’m exempt from my highblood duties because I tend to fuck shit up as much as I can. I think I’m on my mother’s hitlist at this point.” She flashed a very pointy toothed smile.

Karkat was pacing. He walked everywhere in the house, and Kankri kept a careful eye on him. Dirk felt obligated to ask if something was wrong but, when it came down to it, he didn’t really know any of the trolls. 

The Capitol Building at Skaia City was crowded with dedicated Liberals and Conservatives alike. Many were waving supporting signs at the candidates. The votes were being counted at the moment, but the results would be released at any moment.

Nobody was surprised when the Condesce was named President.

Nobody was surprised when the crowd erupted with applause and cheers. 

Nobody was surprised when she took the podium to give her speech.

Nobody was surprised by the proud words, the words that wove a vision of equality and peace and progress.

The broadcast continued with statistics and more trivial information. Roxy turned the tv off. “You guys should head home while it’s still safe.”

“Fef did say the PA was planning something big, but nobody is quite sure what,” Meenah said. “Best we don’t stick around to find out.” Quicker and quieter than normal, they all dispersed. It must’ve been nerves. 

“Does anyone want any snacks before they head to bed?” Jane asked. “I could whip something up.”

“I’m just gonna head up,” Jade replied. “Thanks, though.”

“I’ll take food!” Jake said. “Whatever is easiest for you to make, Jane, I’m not picky.” 

She looked to Dirk, who shook his head. “No thanks. I’m going up to the observatory if anyone needs me. See you guys in the morning.” He was too anxious to sleep. With his phone and the open night sky, he browse the news to stay alert and not panic. 

All of the local news contained details on the elections. He kept refreshing the page. An article on a car crash appeared, but it had been a rich, drunk teenager. Then nothing. He turned to social media, where at least there was something to keep him occupied.

Then he stumbled across a screenshot of a news report. A group of homeless humans had been found dead. Throats cut out. 

Similar crimes popped up. Few trolls were found dead like this, but if they were they were mutants or lowbloods.

According to Chief Zahhak, there was no suspect as of yet, although it was clearly a gang of some sort. Street footage was being looked at this very moment. Dirk sent the article to Dave and told him to message everyone. Dave, of course still awake, followed through. 

Jane had ran up to the observatory to ask if Dirk saw the news. Roxy and Jake joined her. “It’s definitely PA,” Jake said. 

“Duh,” Roxy replied. “At least all of us are safe.”

“For how long, though?” Dirk asked. This silenced them for a few moments, before Jane said, “Long enough to do something. We should go online and check with everyone following us to make sure they’re inside and safe.” 

“Alright, I’ll take care of that. You guys should check the international news. I bet Eurorus and Alustus are both worse off than we are,” Roxy said. 

She was right. Eurorus was celebrating the Condesce’s win, and plenty of humans had been killed. Alustus was in a similar state, but it resembled a rioting country rather than a celebrating one.

None of them got much sleep that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will be the last chapter for a few days, but then I'll come back and finish posting. Thank you so much for reading, it really means the world to me. You guys are the best, and I hope you enjoyed! Until next time~


	22. Chapter 21: Changes

The official record showed that the gang who was responsible for the many slaughters was unknown due to lack of evidence. Feferi disclosed that it was organized by the PA. She had killed someone. Someone else. She was quiet now, only talking to Sollux occasionally. Gamzee, who had been slowly weaning off sopor with the help of Tavros, was back on it in full force. When the effects wore off, he started to rock back and forth and scream. Kurloz and Cronus seemed unfazed. 

A few days after becoming president, the Condesce began working towards laws separating trolls from other species in public places. This segregation was proposed under the idea that trolls had special needs and thus needed different treatment. It was rejected by plenty of trolls and other species alike. A few months passed, and, after many of the opposers either changed their minds or were killed in tragic accidents, the law passed. In the middle of senior year, the trolls were sent to some of the best schools in the world. Everyone else was stuck with everything else. Restaurants had separate seating. Businesses had to incorporate separate rooms for workers.

They soon realized that trolls were being paid more.

The school year ended. Dave was preparing for senior year. College didn’t seem like an option, but he sent applications to film schools anyway. Dirk, having finished freshman year, was prepping for sophomore year. Everyone was looking for jobs, although it was increasingly difficult for humans to get a decent paying minimum wage job. 

Eurorus had now legalized slavery. Refugees flooded into Freeka, but many people from every species (except for trolls) were now slaves. 

Alustus was committing genocide. The only race exempt were trolls. Troll uprisings were happening across Freeka, and the Condesce was contemplating sending financial aid to the rebellions.

The Condesce introduced a new police force that apparently gave homage to the traditional army of the Alternians. The Threshecutioners were made up of only trolls, tealblood and higher. They had more authority than the police, but didn’t investigate crimes. Instead, they acted more as a group of bodyguards. While they didn’t investigate, if they saw a crime being committed, they had the right to interfere.

The Threshecutioners were loved among trolls. To everyone else, they were brutal and a force to be feared. 

Calliope was put into hiding. The Condesce declared that any mutant (severely mutated, not just hemotype) was to be taken into custody for investigation. It was supposedly for study, to investigate why they were born the way they were, if it was dangerous for them to reproduce. Calliope didn’t trust this, and, considering that cherubs were severely mutated trolls, she was hid in the abandoned science lab only a mile away from the Lalonde home.

White Queen offered to let Dirk and Dave stay with her. They refused. She couldn’t take in anyone, and she didn’t dare fight the PA. She couldn’t ask her subjects to do that.

Nobody had acknowledged whatever they had started. Karkat suggested they call it the Signless Revolt. Nobody had a better idea. Members of the Signless Revolt across the country offered ideas of riots and assassination. Sollux suggested a much tamer idea. He created an untraceable browser. He posted it online and sent out the message for everyone to download it and use it for everything. At the very least, they wouldn’t be immediately suspicious.

Terezi managed to rope Latula into spending hours at the public library. Together they scoured the legal books to see if a case could be made against the Condesce. She had been doing everything legally. 

Life was normal.

When Dirk went to school, he had slurs thrown at him.

He was treated like shit at his job.

He couldn’t wait to kill the Condesce.

Life felt normal.

But everything was shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooooh I don't know about you guys but I'm excited! One more chapter to post and we'll be done with this story! I hope you enjoyed, thank you for reading, and hopefully I'll have another chapter up in a few hours. Until next time~


	23. Epilogue

Wayward Vagabond didn’t really participate in politics anymore. How could he when he couldn’t get food most of the time. But after the package from one Feferi Peixes, he had watched the election with exasperation and dread. 

He spent each night thumbing the pages of the diary. The more personal parts had been pasted over with classified documents and reports. 

Jade, whoever that was, had believed he could do something to stop it. Clearly he couldn’t do that. 

But he had been thinking. And thinking. And thinking. 

And he might have an idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's a wrap, everyone! Thank you to everyone who read, every hit this story got inspired me to write longer and, hopefully, better chapters. To the people who bookmarked this and left a kudos, I send a very special thanks to you. When people take the time to do that, it really makes me feel so unbelievably happy. I know what I usually do is take a ten day hiatus to work more on my next story, but I feel bad for the constant lapses of me not updating, so the first chapter of my next story will come out tonight! It will be a Kim Possible story, so if you like that and you like my writing, you should check it out. As for this series, I will continue it. I just don't have an estimate of when I will get the fourth installment in. So! I hope you enjoyed, and I will hopefully see you later. Until next time!


End file.
